Finding The Words
by Prissy and Bregan
Summary: Jared's death introduces FBI Special Agent Seeley Booth to the world of NCIS, particulary the enticing Ziva David, who smiles at him while Tony DiNozzo glowers Have no fear! Strictly tiva and B/B .
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer: I do not own the works of geniuses that belong to Hart Hanson and Don Bellisario (Bones and NCIS respectively) but someday I hope to have that distinction... :)**

**Right, so this is a crossover of NCIS and Bones. Takes place during the 7th season and the 5th one, respectively. Was inspired, but am uncertain about the future of this fic. Like McGee, I tend to write in the present. But I do have a good success rate at finishing stories! Even if I haven't actually posted a new one in 2 years...Too busy watching Bones and NCIS, I suppose. **

-----

Jared turned his head as he ran, trying to see if his attacker was still pursuing him. But it was dark and the alcohol was numbing his senses. He really shouldn't have downed that last beer, but it was hard to find a decent Sam Adams these days.

Puffing, Jared kept walking slowly, craning his ears for all senses as he wished desperately that he had a gun, a knife, any kind of weapon. But unfortunately, as Joe 'Dishonorably Discharged' Citizen, Jared Booth was unarmed and someone was hunting him down. He could feel it in the air.

'_Sniper'_ His mind screamed and he ducked instinctively. Like that, Jared was gunned down. The subsequent splash of the puddle became coated with his blood as it dripped down to the sewer. Moaning softly, Jared cursed his slow thought process. If he'd been thinking faster, he could've figured out it was a sniper faster.

But now there was only one thing he could do. Die. But he wasn't going to die without a fight, that was for sure. Grasping his abdomen and trying not to black out with the pain, Jared's naval training told him he had only seconds. Pulling out his phone, there was no service, something the sniper knew-which was why he wasn't bothering to gun down Jared again-much to Jared's consternation.

But Jared had a grim smile on his face, determined to at least do this thing. He had to, in order to die with a clear mind. Damn that Catholicism.

Groaning, he shut his eyes, his hands tightening around the bloody wound which seeped past his broad fingers. His phone was tight in his other hand and Jared intended to make damn sure that the right man got the message.

At three minutes before midnight, Jared Booth died with the blanket of the moon's translucent rays on his stained clothing, and the cold comfort of a bloody puddle on the ground.

The hitman stood over his body, eyes gleaming in the moonlight as he smiled at his fresh kill. He'd been tracking the ex-navy man for two days and was disappointed by how easy he'd been. Drunks were always the easiest kill. But if Jared hadn't ducked at the last minute, the shot would have been clean through and out into the Dumpster. Easy enough to retrieve by replacing the Dumpsters again.

But at least the duck would throw off the perimeters of the shooting back to his original base. No one would think to calculate his ducking. The wrong people would look in the wrong places. Made it harder for them to catch a lucky break.

"You have to make it hard on me, don't you?" The sniper muttered, shaking his head at the sloppy mess. The bullet was probably still in the fellow and he'd been trying to contact someone with his cell. Not that it'd do any good on in alley with no bars.

He had to preserve the scene as much as possible while getting his bullet back. He didn't dare shoot the injured Navy man again. Not when he knew that the first shot was fatal anyway. And now the damn blood was everywhere. No way of switching crime scenes on the feds.

Gritting his teeth, the sniper stood up to think, taking care to only step in the puddles, where he would leave no prints. These puddles were both a godsend and a damned nuisance. He'd have to throw the boots away too, as they had the target's blood on them now. And he loved these boots. Got his first kill in them.

However…The killer paused, squinting all around him at the abandoned street. Fire was a nice option. Butane left no traces. He could pull the bullet out, sprinkle gasoline everywhere around the restaurant and leave slurs on the front walk. It was an Israeli place. Decent hummus, but the falafel left much to be desired. The hit thus, would be impossible to trace to him and his clients. They'd be barking up all the wrong trees. The guy would light up almost right away from the fire. He reeked of alcohol after all.

And that cell phone message to the living, if the guy managed to text one, would be gone. Excellent. A ghost of a grin lit up on the sniper's face as he started making arrangements for his next kill, somewhere north of Guadalajara.

---

Tony drummed his fingers on his desk, eagerly waiting for Ziva to arrive. Not that he'd ever admit that to anyone. But he was bored and Ziva always amused him. More so then McGee, though Tony never could figure out why Ziva liked McGee more than him. It was annoying because he was Anthony DiNozzo and McGee was, well, _McGee_.

Sure enough, Ziva arrived with orange cap placed prominently on her head and a reticent expression on her face. Something was on her mind, but she wasn't going to tell anyone. Not Ziva who was more private then a Swiss bank sometimes.

"Good morning." Tony told her, with a DiNozzo smile for her benefit.

She nodded at him absently, before sitting down, "I have a feeling." Pulling the hat off, Ziva shook her hair out, running her fingers through them.

"A bad one?" Tony asked, curious. His mind was pulled back to that fateful day in LA when Ziva wouldn't shut up about Jenny and he hadn't listened to her.

"I've had small ones sometimes, but nothing like this since…" Ziva trailed off and glanced at Tony as if debating something inside her head, "Where are McGee and Gibbs?"

"Coffee duty and Gibbs is up in MTAC." Tony rattled off, leaning back in his chair, "You ever have it about me?"

The same internal debate was still running behind Ziva's eyes, "Yes. It is a good thing that Jeanne saved you that time." Ziva said lightly, darting her eyes back to the screen.

Like that, Tony felt himself pull away. Jeanne always put him in a bad place and he brooded along with Ziva. McGee entered the bullpen with three coffees and a wary look on his face as he felt the grim moods of his two usually-easygoing co-workers.

"Who died?"

"Former navy lieutenant. Grab your gear." Gibbs took one of the coffees as he swept past the group toward the elevator. They followed him quickly, a cloud of anxiety coating Ziva and affecting Tony, whether he knew it or not.

Gibbs smacked Tony, "Snap out of it, DiNozzo. I don't need two agents wandering off in the clouds today. Agent David, are you fit to work today?"

"Yes Gibbs." Ziva said, turning to him with a stubborn look on her face as if daring him to force her to go home.

Gibbs glared back at her for effect, though they both knew he wasn't going to push it today.

"Fine then." He said heavily as the doors open, "But I see you acting like DiNozzo a few seconds ago and you're off duty for today, _Probie_."

Ziva nodded. Gibbs had the last word.

Her father had called her today, asking her to come home for the holidays. Rosh Hashanah was coming and it was always her father's favorite time of year. Though Ziva had a very small nuclear family, the Jewish New Year brought out the whole David clan. Cousins, aunts, uncles, and _Zayde_, Ziva's grandfather. However, she couldn't go, as she couldn't leave the country while her citizenship papers were still being processed.

Her father had not taken that well, calling her a traitor to her country. Just like her half-brother.

Ari was never at the Rosh Hashanah festivities. Papa didn't like the rest of the family seeing Ari. A throat rose in Ziva's throat as she tried not to think of Ari. It hurt too much.

She blinked in confusion when she heard their destination in the car-Sebaba. It was a kosher restaurant with some of the best hummus she tasted outside of Israel. The falafel was awful, but Ziva enjoyed the pita bread and the Israeli-imported Coca-Cola, not to say anything of the kindly couple that ran the family-owned restaurant. She used to come here all the time with Michael.

In fact, the last time she'd been here was the morning of his death. He wanted her to pick up some pita bread that morning and he was going to 'surprise' her with dinner that night. Of course, it is hard to surprise a Mossad agent, a fact Michael knew which was why he was so upfront about it.

Michael who she knew since her early days at Mossad and Michael who she loved. Ziva always knew there was a day when Michael would cease to exist, but she had expected it to be in some foreign country Tony couldn't pronounce. She would, of course, go after the killer in such a likely case.

But that all changed. Lines crossed and blurred beyond belief when Tony began to color inside and outside of them. The emotions that raged through her as she saw his panicked face stare up at her, with eyes that held no regret for the shooting but something Ziva never did identify. It was a foreign element. She had not seen it on Tony's face since.

She had found an engagement ring in his suitcase later. No one seemed to know about it and Ziva hid it inside her underwear drawer, not wanting people to know about that detail. But she was certain that if Michael had asked, she would have agreed.

"What is wrong with them?" Ziva asked, confused as she saw the charred building and her mind struggled to comprehend the slurs in America of all places. America, melting land of the pot or however the saying went.

"Arson," Gibbs explained, "Someone hates Israel over there, but we're here to pick up the body in an alleyway. No connection to the fire yet."

"Coincidence?" Tony asked

Gibbs growled everyone into silence as he parked the car. Everyone knew just how he felt about coincidences.

Ziva quietly read the Arabic and English slurs, her heart pounding as she inwardly raged against the horrible man who wanted death to Israel and all Jews. Her neck felt empty without the Star of David, but Ziva didn't know if she could wear that particular one just yet again. Her father had given it to her.

Ducky pulled up next to them, shaking his head as he descended from the car, "It's a shameful thing, isn't it my dear?" He addressed her with a warm smile, "Come along, let's go and see this navy officer."

"Okay," Ziva nodded, gripping her bag. Tony was taking pictures of the damage and the slurs. He was shaking his head at an English one that brazenly read, "Jews Are Pigs."

The owners were crying and speaking in rapid Hebrew, too upset to converse in stilted English. McGee was getting nowhere with them and finally called Ziva over to his side. She smiled warmly and hugged both of them, conveying her sympathies. They were old friends from what felt like a lifetime ago now. Yuval and Miriam Sharansky, who always made a point of greeting Ziva whenever she showed up at the restaurant and wanting to know everything new in her life. They did not deserve what had happened.

"_Ma Slommech_?" Yuval asked her warmly, delighted to see her despite the occasion. They had, after all, two unmarried sons. Ziva laughed weakly,

"He asked me how I am." She explained to McGee before turning to the man.

"_Ain li boker tov, k'atem._ _Aval, ani szareek l'daya eem atem yodeem…" _She paused, "_B'angleet, eem atem yodeem al ha'eesh mi..._" She left her sentence unfinished, trying to find the right words for an adjective lost in translation. How to describe such a person who would do such a thing?

"This man who pissed on our heritage, that is what you mean," Yuval declared with feeling, an older Israeli with gray hair and a wisp of a beard. He was grasping his wife, Miriam, who didn't seem to have any words in her mind. Odd, considering that usually she was full of words.

"We know nothing except sadness today." Miriam finally told Ziva, "And you." She smiled sadly, "You don't come anymore." Her warm eyes showed that she remembered a once-frequent customer.

"I don't. I am sorry." Ziva apologized, "I have been in Israel for the last few months. I meant to come soon." That was a lie, but the couple didn't need to know that. Her heart ached too much when she came and saw the familiar surroundings where she and Michael had spent time together.

"_V'Michael_?" Miriam pressed, glancing at Ziva's ringless hand, "_Hoo eesh tov_."

Tim blinked, surprised by the conversation's turn. He wondered what Ziva had said to them in Hebrew.

"Michael was a good man." Ziva agreed softly, shuttering her eyes. The woman seemed to know Michael's fate and didn't press further. She hesitated, before turning to her husband.

"Yuval-"

"Ah, ah, _ani lo yodah mah b'rosh shelli_." Yuval countered softly

"He doesn't want to know what is in her head." Ziva explained with a chuckle, "Yuval, Miriam, my friend needs you to answer his questions now."

"Of course. You will find man who pisses on us?" Yuval turned to Tony

"We will," McGee said politely, glancing at Ziva with an obvious question on his mind. Ziva would answer it later for him.

Ziva headed out to the scene to see this ex-navy man. Gibbs was listening to Ducky drone on. Tony came up, pointing to a spot by the Dumpster.

"Tags I.D him as Lt. Jared Booth, boss" Tony reported, surveying the rest of the remains. "Someone wanted to make sure we knew his identity, since they put the tags away from his body." Tony held up the bag with the tags in them,

"There's also a phone here." Ducky added, pointing to his left hand, "It's melted into the skin now, but I'll retrieve as much of it as I can for Abby."

"Time of death?" Gibbs asked, crouching down to peer at the half-charred body.

"Impossible, as his liver is charred beyond any recognition." Ducky shook his head with annoyance, surveying the burnt half of Jared Booth. His face was still intact, and handsome though tragically so. He also reeked of beer, a strong American ale from the smell of it. Ducky looked over at Gibbs, "I'll be able to tell you that once we take him to the lab."

"Fire stared around 0100, according to the firefighters. They're pretty sure it's arson right now." Tony added, taking another picture.

"He was dead prior to the fire." Ducky spoke, inspecting the former officer's charred hands. One was gripping his abdomen, just below his ribs. Classic sign of a bullet nicking a fatal artery. First reaction was to put pressure on the wound and rigor mortis often set in that way.

"I'm guessing a bullet," Ducky added with some authority, "And he bled out before his remains became charred. Jimmy, you have a sample of the puddles?" He called out, "Abby will want them."

Jimmy nodded, taking another picture of the man's head, "Looks like he was killed here, but the blood's everywhere." Jimmy held up his boot, as if demonstrating how much the blood had stained the various puddles throughout the alley.

"The rain was good for the fire, not so for our body." Duck said, shaking his head, "Most of the evidence is compromised, but I'm sure I can work a miracle or two, Gibbs."

"Bag and tag everything." Gibbs called out, "Ducky, is there an exit wound?"

"Not that I can see." Ducky shook his head, "It's probably half melted inside the poor fellow. We'll find it." He assured Gibbs, shaking his head, "You had a difficult death," He addressed the corpse, "Bleeding out and then burnt postmortem. Not a pretty way to go. But then, is death ever pretty?" He mused thoughtfully

"Bag and tag," Gibbs called out, surveying the alley with distaste.

Ziva went to go grab another evidence bag out of the truck when she caught sight of another familiar face that made her smile.

"Ziva!" Nadav called out, running over to her with an easy smile. Nadav Sharansky, the oldest of Yuval's unmarried sons, was a good friend of Ziva's in DC. Even so, she hadn't seen him since Michael's death either. Seeing him now, with his lanky brown hair and warm green-gold eyes, she regretted that choice. Nadav had always been a nice guy, after all. He reminded her of all the good things about Ari.

"Nadav!" Ziva laughed and hugged him, delighted to see him, "Your mother called?"

"Yes, she said that she had seen my old friend, Ziva David." Nadav explained, "I had to see if it was true." He shook his head, looking at the damage to the restaurant, muttering a curse in Hebrew, "I did not think it was this bad. I'll have to call Pavel and Yair."

"Better see your mother first," Ziva told him lightly, "The good news is that it is not too bad on the inside. The only real damage is to the right wall and the front exterior. Your mother can still cook."

"Only reason why she's still living and demanding to know why I haven't married a nice Jewish girl yet," Nadav joked, eyes twinkling, "Wanted me to get over here and propose before I let you slip out of my fingers."

"Nadav…" Ziva said warningly

"Don't worry. You know I never listen to my mother." Nadav assured her, "So you will have to find a different man." He glanced up casually toward where Tony was eying him, "Perhaps the one that looks like he wants to kill me right now?" He suggested with a chuckle, "Although I don't think he's Jewish."

Ziva turned to look at Tony and laughed, "You would be right." She hesitated, "I need to go, since I'm on the job. But let's meet up later for drinks."

"Still have the same number, elusive Mossad officer?" Nadav teased her

"Ex-Mossad now," Ziva said lightly, "So you will have to call me elusive NCIS agent. And yes, it should be the same number." She nodded before walking off toward the crime scene and Tony.

"Old boyfriend?" Tony asked casually, taking a picture of her as she squinted her eyes at him in annoyance.

"Nadav is a friend." She said lightly, looking up at the phone wires, to where a pair of boots were laced together and thrown over the wire, "What is that?"

Tim answered her query, "That's a pair of boots tied to each other and thrown over a phone line by a bully who didn't want some defenseless little boy to have his shoes. So the kid had to walk home in his socks on a rainy day and nearly turned his toes blue."

Ziva looked at McGee who turned a light shade of red before clearing his throat,

"Or so I've been told." He said lightly

"Bullies do this?" Ziva asked, "To children?"

Tony nodded, "It's fairly common."

"Children do not wear black combat boots." Ziva commented, "I think our killer was trying to hide evidence in plain sight."

"DiNozzo, go get that. Good job, David." Gibbs said, coming up behind them. Ziva smiled to herself as Tony groaned inwardly and took a picture of the boots, not looking forward to retrieving them. He'd have to wait all day for a cherry-picker while everyone else was all nice and warm inside the office.

"I can stay," Ziva volunteered, "I have not had the opportunity to use a cherry-popper."

"Cherry-picker." Tony corrected lightly, "And I have opportunity with both things." He said with a grin, already regretting his untasteful joke. Gibbs slapped him for it.

"DiNozzo, stay here. David, I need you at the office telling me about this man." Gibbs said clearly, sticking with his first choice. Both nodded without protest, wanting to live.

Ziva nodded, packing up her toolbox as Tony snapped a few more pictures. He handed the memory card to McGee, who gave him a fresh one.

---

"Here, Daddy?" Parker asked, one eye closed and his hands too far up on the bat. Seeley Booth chuckled,

"Little lower, Parker." He watched his son grip the bat handle lower with the happy-go-lucky smile that Rebecca claimed was 'all Seeley.'

"Okay. Ready, son?" Booth asked, holding the plastic white ball, slightly bigger then a baseball and unlikely to damage even a toddler. But Booth made Parker wear a helmet for the practice. Parker always complained that his ears itched.

"Ready Daddy." Parker bent lower, his eyes dancing as he waited for Booth to throw.

Booth chuckled and lightly pitched the ball over the plate. Inhaling a large breath of air, Parker exhaled it as his bat connected with the ball and it sailed easily over their fence. Booth laughed and Parker, throwing off his helmet in victory, yelled out,

"Grand Slam!" He ran across the bases, but Booth tackled him lightly before he hit home and assaulted Parker with a tickle attack that had him in giggles.

"No fair, Daddy!" Parker cried out, still laughing all the same, "You promised!" He wriggled around, trying to get away from Booth's masterful fingers.

"Well-" Booth started when the doorbell rang. Smiling, Booth released Parker and let his son dart over and touch home base.

"I win!" Parker yelled, dancing around the base.

"Yeah you do. Now let's go inside and get you cleaned up. That's probably your mother with these clothes." Booth said, "Unless she's already on the plane…" He mused. Rebecca was with Dan, her boyfriend, flying to some secluded fancy vacation destination while Booth spent the week with Parker. Parker, in typical Parker fashion, had forgotten about half his suitcase and Rebecca had been too lovey-dovey with Dan to realize it at the time.

"Okay." Parker sighed and tromped inside, "I like our house better then our old apartment, Daddy." He added as they tromped inside the two story house.

"Me too." Booth said, ruffling Parker's head. It'd been an impulse buy, but he hadn't regretted it since the house was dirt cheap and it was the sort of house that was perfect for raising a family in.

Only, he wasn't exactly raising a family as a bachelor in his late thirties with an eight year old son that spent most of his time with his mother. But it'd been too tempting to pass up. And the lease on his apartment had gone up to highway robbery.

Plus Bones liked it here.

Booth opened the door, expecting to see the mother of his son. They looked so alike with matching blond hair and babyfaces. Only Rebecca usually seemed to have an annoyed expression on her face half the time.

However, Booth saw a woman with brown eyes darker then his own, a beautiful tan, and ebony hair neatly braided down her back. The man next to her didn't look like he could shave yet, though he was quick to pull out his badge.

"NCIS," They explained in tandem and Booth nodded, recognizing the acronyms.

"My daddy's FBI," Parker declared impudently, "Can I show them your badge, Daddy?" Booth could see the woman smiling despite herself.

"They know I'm FBI, buddy," Booth said lightly, "Let's just let these nice NCIS agents in."

Parker nodded, "What's NICS mean?" He asked, Booth sighed and opened the door wider for the two agents to come in, which they did so.

"NCIS. Naval Criminal Intelligence Service," Booth casually glanced at the way that the woman's hips swayed. Clasping his hands on Parker, he smiled embarrassedly at the agents, "Sorry, I didn't catch your names."

"Special Agent Ziva David," The woman explained lightly

"Special Agent Tim McGee," The man added, putting away his badge.

"Well I'm Special Agent Seeley Booth as I'm sure you know and this-" Booth ruffled Parker's hair, "-Is Parker, who needs to go do his homework."

Parker sighed, "Fiiine," He walked off, "But Daddy, if they found a finger I wanna see it!"

"I'll think about it!" Booth called back, having no intention to let Parker do that, "Can I help you folks?" He asked, assuming this had something to do with his Army Ranger days.

"We have a body that has been positively identified as Jared Booth," Ziva explained to him softly, knowing he'd need a few minutes to collect himself before he could answer any questions.

"Are you sure?" Booth was stunned, "How was he murdered?" His brow furrowed, "_Who_ would want to murder him?" Booth frowned, "Are you sure it's Jared?"

"He was found with his tags, and our medical examiner confirmed from the fingerprints." McGee explained to him, "We need to ask you where you were last night between 2300 and 0100."

The woman, Ziva, only looked at him with these almost catlike eyes of hers, not saying anything.

"Asleep in my bed," Booth said coolly, "And let me tell you right now that I didn't kill my brother." He shook his head, "Jared had his demons, especially alcohol…I didn't even know that he was in town." He muttered, kicking himself for not paying more attention to Jared.

His little brother was dead? Booth couldn't believe it.

"Why? His primary residence is this address." Ziva spoke, frowning

"I've been living here for the last two months. Jared helped me move in, but that was about it. He lives on his Harley these days. But that explains why I always got his mail though." Booth pointed over to a table at the end with mail piled up for Jared.

"We'll need to take that." Ziva said softly, walking over to collect the mail and put it in an evidence bag.

"When was the last time you talked to him?" McGee asked

"Just before Parker's mother dropped him off yesterday morning." Booth said, "Jared said he might drop by in a month or two. Wanted to know how I was doing, mostly. I didn't ask where he was. I just assumed he was still in…" Booth paused, thinking, "Philadelphia. That's where we grew up. Jared likes the bars there so I assumed he was going to be smashed for a few more weeks before driving again."

McGee nodded, scribbling things down.

"I'd like to identify Jared for myself and see how your team is doing on this case." Booth said quietly, "Just for today, of course, since I have my own work tomorrow. I'm impressed that you do weekends."

"Weekend shifts." Ziva corrected him lightly, as she crossed back over to where McGee was standing, "And we will have to run it by our boss." She wasn't being rude, but it wasn't quite friendly either.

"I'll take care of that," Booth said, pulling out his phone, "Jared's my only family." He said quietly and he saw that his statement had an effect on Ziva. At least she seemed to sympathize.

Booth dialed a buddy of his within the FBI. Most folks were afraid of Tobias Fornell, but Booth had nothing but respect for the senior officer. He was all but lauded by field agents in the FBI for being something of a maverick and charming enough that even administrators couldn't find fault with him.

"Booth, this is a surprise." Fornell said lightly, "I'm afraid Emily's at Melissa's house today for a doll party. But bring Parker by and we'll have a man's party. Steelers vs Colts,"

Booth laughed. It also helped that Emily and Parker happened to be in the same grade and good enough friends that Parker hadn't called 'cooties' on her yet. And Fornell liked the same teams that Booth did, having grown up in Pennsylvania.

"We'll have to do that another day. I just found out that my brother was murdered and NCIS is investigating."

Tobias was silent for a few moments. He knew what Booth was angling for, "My condolences, Seeley. Who's the lead agent?"

"I'm speaking with Agents McGee and David." Booth said, glancing at them

"Good. Your brother's murder will be handled by the best of the best then." Fornell assured him, "I'll call Agent Gibbs for you and you should be able to work as an _observer_. Understand?"

"Oh yeah." Booth said coolly, "Thanks Tobias."

They hung up and Booth smiled fakely, "That was uh, Agent Fornell. He's given me the all clear to _observe _your team for the day."

"You are on first names with him." Ziva noted

"We've never worked on a case together, but our kids are good friends." Booth explained lightly, "Your boss will call any second with the news and you should probably explain that I have to bring a charming eight year old with me."

Sure enough, McGee's cell rang and he picked up, walking out of earshot. Booth turned to Ziva and smiled warmly,

"Can I get you anything to drink?"

She shook her head, "You were a sniper." She stated coolly

"Army Ranger sniper, yes I was." Booth nodded, "I was in involved in special ops, but that's not me anymore." He flickered toward Ziva's hands, "And you?"

She did not respond, but only curved her face in a small smile, "I did many things on behalf of my country, Israel. And now I am becoming a citizen to honor America, my new country."

"I'm impressed. I don't think there's any country in the world as patriotic as Israel." Booth said with authority, "America's lucky to have you."

"Thank you, Agent Booth." She smiled warmly, "It is very hard, this new allegiance." She made a little squinty face that triggered his mind to a memory featuring his favorite woman: Bones, doing that same exact squint. Only she looked cuter doing it.

McGee came back in, "Gibbs gave him the all-clear."

Ziva nodded, "Then we will go. You know where our headquarters are, Agent Booth?"

"Call me Booth, I'm off duty. Parker!" Booth called out, grabbing two jackets. One for him and a smaller one for Parker.

Parker skidded in, eyes bright, "You're taking me to see a finger, Daddy?"

"No fingers today, buddy. I'm taking you to go see the NCIS building." Booth said, helping Parker get into his jacket, "Where you are going to behave like the little gentleman that your mother is raising you to be,"

Ziva stifled a chuckle

"Okay." Parker said enthusiastically, "What are we going to see?"

"_I'm_ going to see a dead body and _you_ are going to see the coffee machine, buddy." Booth said, "And tomorrow after school, I'll take you to the carnival if you don't tell your mother where Daddy took you."

"Deal!" Parker said, bounding down, "Who died?"

"No one you know." Booth said lightly, "They just want some input from me." He zipped up Parker's jacket and looked at the two agents, "Right?"

Parker didn't wait to hear their response, already outside inspecting Ziva's Mini-Coop and demanding to sit in front. Ziva laughed at Booth's pained expression,

"You both can come with us." Ziva said cheerfully, "McGee can sit in back with you."

"Actually," McGee hesitated, thinking of Ziva's driving, "Your son might be more comfortable with you. Agent David drives like there's IEDs on the road."

"After my trip to London, I swore that I wasn't getting back into one of these things." Booth admitted, eying the car, "But I don't mind if Parker goes with you as long as he wears his seatbelt."

"In that case, I should go with you," McGee countered, "For directions and my own sanity."

Booth chuckled, "Fine then. Parker! You mind if the pretty lady drives you?" He called out, "Daddy's taking his own car."

"Your car is boring." Parker sniffed as if that settled it and Ziva laughed, walking away with the same delectable sway that Booth couldn't help but notice. Damn, it'd been a while since he noticed any girl but Bones walking around.

"Er, Booth?" McGee probed, knowing what he was doing.

Booth snapped out of it and sighed, "Right then, Agent McGee. My car's in the garage."

---

Tony sat at his desk, holding an ice pack to the back of his chest. That was the last time that he was using a cherry picker. He had fallen off _again_, because the damn machine stopped a foot before ground-level and he hadn't noticed. At least the evidence was already bagged and the blood at the bottom of the soles looked promising as a match to Jared Booth.

"FUN!" Tony heard a little kid declare as the elevator doors opened. A blur of blond came into the offices, with big brown eyes craning toward everything and talking too fast for Tony to comprehend in his compromised state.

"Oh Tony, what happened to you?" Ziva asked, her worried eyes on Tony

"I fell," Tony said manfully, "Just a little bump, nothing worse then when Gibbs smacks me." He glanced toward Parker, "Who's the kid?"

"I'm Parker Booth and when I grow up, I'm going to be an FBI agent just like my daddy. But maybe I'll marry an NCIS agent like Ziva." Parker said, gazing at Ziva with reverent admiration. Ziva laughed,

"You are too charming, Parker." Ziva told him indulgently, "Do you want to buy a candy bar?" She added, handing him a small bill and showing him where the vending machines were. He sped off, just as he had entered: a bundle of energy.

"He's the nephew," Ziva explained lightly, "And his father hasn't explained that it's Jared Booth in autopsy. Insisted on coming in himself to see and Parker wanted to drive with me." Ziva shrugged, "He enjoys my driving." She added smugly

"Of course. The kid has a death wish." Tony said lightly, "Ducky hasn't found the bullet, but he's certain that it was a sniper who shot him down, though an inexperienced one, probably, considering where the bullet ended up."

"Unless the sniper wanted him to suffer." Ziva said quietly

"Velocity of the shot shows that it came from a building about 100 yards away from the alley." Tony continued, looking through a file, "Abby's calculating the trajectory of the bullet, based on where it entered the victim and I'm looking at Seeley Booth's file. Impressive sniper in the Rangers."

"He did not do it." Ziva said firmly, "But I want to canvass the local bars. See if any of them saw our victim before he died. Booth says his brother had an alcohol problem."

Tony groaned, "Ziva, that area is Bar Central. There's twenty bars all within spitting distance of that alley."

"Spitting?" Ziva frowned, "That is not more then three feet and I do not think that is an accurate measure of distance."

"It's an expression." Tony said, sighing.

"I do not like these expressions." Ziva said in frustration, "They do not make sense and no one understands _my_ expressions?" She muttered something in Hebrew and went to her desk. Parker came back, munching on a candy bar. Instead of bothering Ziva, he went over to Tony,

"What do you do?" He asked, curious

"I'm the Senior Field Agent here at NCIS, so I solve crimes with my team here." Tony said lightly, turning to look at Parker. He was a cute little kid with tumbling blond hair and an almost mischievous expression on his face.

"My daddy's an agent too at FBI. He solves crimes with Dr. Bones. She lets us use her pool." Parker said knowledgeably, "He can also eat steaks the size of my head."

"So can I," Tony muttered, quickly losing interest in what Parker had to say.

"My parents never got married. Are you married?" Parker pressed

"Nope." Tony said, "And I don't plan to be, buddy."

"Do you have a girlfriend?" Parker asked, "My daddy doesn't. Or if he does, he never tells me because we're not allowed to talk about that stuff until I have armpit hair." Parker checked underneath his arms as if to see. Ziva stifled a chuckle.

"No girlfriend, Parker." Tony said quietly, hoping that Ziva wouldn't hear the admission. She probably had with her bat-like hearing.

"Why?"

"Too busy solving crimes like your dad." Tony explained lightly

"I don't get that. They're already dead so you can wait an extra day without worrying about them dying." Parker said logically, "Unless it's a serial killer. My daddy puts serial killers in jail _all_ the time." He boasted, "He carries a gun, but I'm not allowed to touch it or talk about guns until I get armp-."

"Parker!" Booth's voice boomed and he sighed with relief, picking up an unhurt Parker as he glanced toward Ziva,

"Man, I thought your Agent McGee was exaggerating. But that was a very well executed three point turn. I've never seen anyone do one so fast in the middle of a traffic intersection."

"Thank you." Ziva said, modestly, "I'm afraid Parker's enthusiasm got to me a bit."

"He does have a lot of enthusiasm doesn't he?" Booth set him down with a chuckle, "Okay, could someone take me to Autopsy? Parker can behave himself for three seconds."

"But not five." Parker added, giggling

"Sure. Come on, Parker, I've got a game on my computer that you might like." McGee said kindly and Parker nodded cheerfully

"No guns!" Booth added quickly before following Ziva. After an initial hesitation, Tony leapt up to join them while Parker played McGee's car game and McGee made a few inquiries with the arson inspectors over at the local firestation.

In the elevator, Booth felt something shift. There was a charged air around him and he glanced toward the two other people in the elevator. They were on either side of him, not talking, but Booth felt like he was intruding on something all the same.

"So uh," Booth spoke out, "Seeley Booth," he introduced himself to the man, who was slightly shorter than he, though no less formidable.

"Special Agent Anthony DiNozzo," Tony introduced himself, shaking Booth's hand. From the way he eyed Booth, Booth was fairly certain that Tony was all but positive that he was shaking the hand of Jared's killer.

"How much do you know about Jared?" Booth asked coolly, tucking his hands into his pockets.

"I know he sacrificed his career for his big brother," Tony said off-handedly, as if mentioning a football game.

"You got something to say about how I take care of my family?" Booth asked sharply

"Tony," Ziva spoke quietly, her eyes soft, "Booth, we know he saved your life. I still cannot believe that you had the energy to even make it off that ship." She smiled warmly at him and Booth glanced toward her, his anger quickly dissolving,

"Yeah, I wasn't supposed to die that day. Made it off with that thought in mind." He explained heavily, "I tried to get Jared a job, but he just wanted to go off on that stupid bike and…" Booth paused, "I probably would've joined him if I didn't have Parker." _And Bones_, his mind added instinctively, "Uh, he started his trip about six months back. Sent me postcards if I didn't get the hotel bills." His voice broke off, "God, I can't believe this. He's my kid brother."

"I know how you feel." Ziva said quietly, handing him a tissue that seemed to come out of nowhere.

A nerve of irritation ran through Tony as he noticed how well Ziva and Booth got along. It only served to cement Tony's belief in two things. A: FBI agents were the messengers of Evil. B: That Seeley Booth killed his brother.

"Maybe I should just get off and let you two continue this conversation in private." Tony suggested lightly and Ziva glared at him for his insensitivity. Booth appeared to have no response.

"Booth." Tony said it out loud, "Like the guy who killed Lincoln, huh?"

Booth sighed, "Not that it matters, but he's a distant relative. But unlike him, the only people I've ever assassinated were for the good of my country."

"Me too," Ziva said lightly, and her eyes sparkled, "How many?"

Booth's grin broadened and he tilted his head, looking at Ziva with interest, "Guess." He raised an eyebrow and Ziva let out a burst of laughter before putting her searching look on him. Tony did not like this. Not at all.

And thankfully, the doors opened before anyone could respond to Booth's dare.

Gibbs was on the other side, and nodded seeing them. The three filed out of the elevator, Booth looking at Gibbs. Neither said anything before Booth broke the silence by nodding at Gibbs,

"I know you: Gunnery Sergeant Leroy Jethro Gibbs. Desert Storm. Our commander told my unit how you saved him while managing to take out ten insurgents in a kill zone."

Gibbs chuckled, "Not as dramatic as Matthews makes it sound." He pauses, "How's his family?"

"His wife re-married last year and Ellen's graduating high school this year." Booth said softly, "We were taken out in the same attack. Only I didn't come home in a body bag."

"You're an FBI agent now?" Gibbs asked, raising his eyebrow, "Former military career?"

"Used to be a sergeant. However, I'm not fit for military duty, so I joined FBI." Booth explained lightly, "Special Agent Seeley Booth."

"Shame. I could use a man like you on my team." Gibbs glanced at Tony and Ziva, "Fornell vouches for Agent Booth and so do I." He paused, "And the little boy I've yet to meet is _not_ allowed in autopsy, Agent."

"Of course." Booth nodded soberly, "I don't want my kid having nightmares about dead bodies. That can really mess a person up." He pauses, "Thank you, Gunny." He says kindly, using Gibbs' former military nickname.

"Call me Gibbs," Gibbs told him quietly, "I haven't been a gunny since I was nearly sent home in a body bag myself."

Booth nodded.

"David, come up with me. DiNozzo can escort Booth to Ducky." Gibbs added, walking into the elevator. Ziva followed him, glancing at Booth with a small grin. No one else had won over Gibbs quite that quickly after all. Certainly not Tony.

As the doors closed, Tony stared at Booth, "You are just full of good ol' boy charisma, aren't you?"

"I prefer to think of it as charm, but we can go with your word, Agent DiNozzo." Booth said lightly before chuckling, "How long have you loved her anyway?" His brown eyes bore through Tony's with a knowing look.

"What?" Tony asked

"Never mind." Booth shrugged, "Where's my brother?" He asked and Tony led him to Ducky's, not wanting to ask Booth what he'd meant by that last innocuous comment.

Booth sucked in a breath, seeing Jared. He was naked and lying on the stainless steel table like a slab of meat. He'd seen dead bodies before. Bodies of babies and young women. Bodies of men like him and old people. But this was a body among the bodies.

This was the body of his baby brother.

"_Choke up on the bat, Jared."_

"_Like this?"_

"_No, you're still too short. Two fists higher, Jer."_

"_Here?"_

"_Good job, Jer. You ready, little brother?"_

"_Make it fast, Seel. I'm a-gonna hit it."_

"_Open your eyes first. You can't hit anything if you don't open your eyes."_

"_They're open!"_

"_Good. Okay Jer, here we go…"_

_---_

"Yep, I recognize him." The bartender said, squinting his eyes at the picture, "Jared's a regular."

Ziva smiled, "When did you see him last?"

"Well, my memory might be better if you bought a drink. Sales have been slow lately." The bartender said, pushing the picture back to Ziva, "His best friend is Sam Adams, though I can tell you that."

Having heard this previously from a different bartender (who knew Jared but hadn't seen him in months) Ziva knew that Sam Adams was not a person but a drink. A drink that the man expected her to buy in exchange for information on Jared.

Ziva sighed. She had already bought five drinks, none of them drunk (as it was the middle of the day and she was on the clock, as Tony would say). But she was looking for a lead and this was the closest she would get. And she wasn't allowed to use her usual techniques after the Legal Department sent her a memo detailing how to properly question her prospective witnesses for the third time. She did not want to have to pay that stupid penalty again. A beer was cheaper.

"Fine." She handed over the money for a frothy mug of Sam Adams beer that she would never drink. The bartender pocketed her money with a beam,

"He came in yesterday, didn't feel like talking. He just sat there and had three of my Sam Adams before I had to chase him out for groping a few lady customers." The bartender pointed up to the camera, "You can have the tape."

"Thank you," Ziva said, brightly and as a small celebration, she took a sip of her drink. Her eyes brightened, "This _is_ good."

"It's the best Sam Adams in town, I like to think." The man boasted, his eyes sparkling, "Jared usually comes in once a month or so to enjoy it. Hope he hasn't gotten himself into too much trouble this time."

"He's dead," Ziva explained softly

"That's a shame. Better take this then." The bartender went underneath the bar and came out with a cold beer of Sam Adams, "He'll need this for his grave, Agent David. Wouldn't be fitting otherwise."

"Thank you." Ziva said, surprised and accepted the free beer. She took another sip of her beer before leaving with the tape and Jared's after-death drink.

She got back into the car with McGee and held up the tape,

"He says Jared was in his establishment last night, groping women."

"We'll go back and see." McGee nodded, and set down his phone, "Firefighters finally confirmed that it's the work of an arsonist, but a sloppy one at that. Only one point of origin and in an odd place for someone aiming to flameball the restaurant."

"He was trying to burn Jared." Ziva nodded logically, "The restaurant arson was a cover for a screw up the man made. Sloppy cover-up. Something happened to him that the killer burnt away. What's Abby got on the boots?"

"We'll know when we get back." McGee said, putting the car in ignition, "Oh and Tony says that you've got a thing for Booth. The alive one."

Ziva scoffed, "Tony says many things. You should know that McGee."

"That's true." McGee admitted, "So you aren't going to ask him for a drink after this is done?"

"I may." Ziva shrugged, "Booth is very appealing, but…" She paused, "I think he is in love with someone. You should not tell Tony anything except the first part of what I have said."

"Well that seems fair." Tim mused thoughtfully.

Ziva laughed as McGee put the car into drive. They both enjoyed messing with Tony's head too much sometimes.

---

Tony was eying Booth silently as Booth read the case file on Jared. He hadn't said a word since they had left Ducky's lab.

"I need to go make a call." Booth muttered and his eyes softened, seeing Parker asleep under McGee's desk. Poor kid had tuckered himself out after running around the whole office. Booth shrugged his jacket off and covered Parker with it, smiling sadly.

Parker had loved his Uncle Jared who told him armpit-hair things. That's what uncles were for anyway. Especially uncles like Cool Uncle Jared. Booth still had the picture of when Jared hoisted Parker up on his Harley and made motor noises for the kid, both of them laughing.

It was going to be difficult to tell Parker, but Booth was determined to keep it from him for now. Parker would find out later. Much later.

Standing up, he walked over by the window, looking at his cell phone. Sighing, he flickered through the different numbers before pressing Call. Pressing his phone to his ear, he glanced outside at the view of Washington DC, trying to see if the Jeffersonian was within eyeshot.

"Hey Bones," Booth spoke casually, feeling anything but casual right now.

---

**I so don't get this whole double space policy, but w/e. I'm proud of how it's coming out. Feels a little longish though...**

**Even though it's been two years, a girl still loves to get reviews---*hint***


	2. Chapter 2

**Disclaimer: Bones does not belong to me. NCIS does not belong to me. But that might change after I wish on a star tonight at 11:11! In the meantime, Hart Hanson and Don Bellisario rule the cosmic universe as I play with my little plastic army man that I call LJ Tibbs. :)**

**Chapter Two**

xoxoxoxox

Booth rested his head against the thin plating of the vending machine, his eyes shut as he struggled with his mind. He left Bones a message, and hopefully she'd call back soon. But for now, he was stuck.

What had he been thinking? He shouldn't have brought Parker here. At least the kid had fallen asleep, though Booth wouldn't have been surprised if the surly DiNozzo spiked his drink with Tylenol PM.

Reopening his eyes, he stared at the different candies in the machine, not reading any of the labels. Booth tried not to think about his brother's face, the very shape that the different brands seemed to shape themselves into. The perfect, flawless face that was once alive and laughing and smiling, even if only in a drunken stupor.

Half of him still couldn't accept the simple fact that the body down there in Autopsy was Jared. It had to be someone else. Not Jared.

"Here," Ziva walked up to him, and he forced his eyes to hers. Her eyes, they were bright with some kind of understanding. It was obvious enough that she was not this nice to everyone and he looked at her outstretched hand. She had a picture in it. Hesitating, he took it from her, curious, despite his grief.

There was a pretty teenaged girl. She had the same honey-swirled eyes and devilish grin that he spied from time to time. Only her hair was loose and wild with wavy curls that the setting sun seemed to spin into gold.

"You?" He asked, looking up at her, only to notice that she was brushing up right next to him. But it wasn't anything personal. He noticed Ziva doing this with Tony and McGee, unaware of how she invaded the personal boundaries and easily getting away with it. He didn't mind it too much himself.

She nodded, and pointed to a smaller girl that her younger self was embracing, "My little sister."

"She's beautiful. Doesn't look much like you except for the tan." Booth commented, eyes on the younger girl now. She was not quite as petite as Ziva, but bubbly, with lighter brown hair up in a ponytail and had the broadest grin on her face. Her blue eyes shone and it was clear from the way Ziva embraced her that they were very close.

Ziva chuckled, "Yes. Tali took after my mother. This was taken a few days before a roadside bomb took her life." Ziva plucked the picture from Booth, gazing at it mournfully, "Sometimes I lapse and start to dial her number or call her name." She tucked the picture away, eyes glassy.

Booth took an unshed tissue from his pocket, "Here. I haven't…" Booth shook his head, "I don't have the tears just yet. I'm still processing." He hesitated, "How long?"

Ziva closed his hand around the tissue, "You will need it later." She spoke weakly, "And time is not important when it still feels like yesterday that-" She broke off, glancing at Booth with an embarrassed smile

"That you were with them." Booth finished.

"Exactly." Ziva chuckled, nodding, "People like us, we see death a lot. Sometime we cause it, but we are still people and we still grieve for our loved ones. There is no shame in that."

"Yeah." Booth sighed, "I just can't help but think-"

"You can't fix him." Ziva said softly, "But you _can_ help us find his killer and honor his memory."

"Did you find yours?" Booth spoke after a quiet pause

Ziva paused, "I did."

"Good." Booth nodded and they stared at each other for a second, dark brown meeting dark brown.

Tony came in at that moment, planning to grab a quick candy bar before reporting to Boss-Man with the latest. He saw the two agents simply gazing at each other without a word. Now he felt uncomfortable and he didn't like it. He was supposed to make _others_ feel uncomfortable.

"What's going on?" He called out, deciding to break the silent connection between the two. Creepy, as if they were reading each other's minds or something.

"Here," Ziva pulled out a slip of paper, ignoring Tony, "If you need an ear, Booth."

"Thank you. Should go check on Parker." Booth took it and tucked it in, sweeping by Tony without a word.

Tony frowned and looked at Ziva, "Have you forgotten that you're at work?"

Ziva looked all around her as if this was a trick question, "No." She confirmed, looking at him calmly.

"Why don't you act like it?" Tony snapped and stalked out without getting his intended snack. Ziva rolled her eyes and walked out with him,

"Have you forgotten that you're _not_ a girl, Tony?" She hissed back at him, clearly annoyed at what she saw as a foresight on his part, "Because you sure are acting like it." She then turned away from him, hips swaying and Tony was only a man. He watched her depart into the ladies room, miffed that she had the last word.

"DiNozzo!" Gibbs strode into the bullpen and Tony quickly made time there, his stomach rumbling. Booth was sitting at Ziva's desk, an asleep Parker now on his chest. Booth's strong hands rubbed his son's back as he absently stared at the screen. The tension seemed to roll off of him, and it was all focused on the screen. The screen that might show Jared's killer.

"I reviewed the video of our victim making a fool of himself at McLaughlin's Brewery." McGee spoke as he put up a still of a laughing Jared on the screen. "Tape shows him leaving at 2343 after groping a woman for the third time."

"Ugh Jared," Booth muttered, shaking his head as he watched his little brother laugh and try to drunkenly kiss the much younger woman. What a great example to set for Parker. Booth inhaled in Parker's Lo'Real Kids shampoo, tightening his hold almost imperceptibly. Tony bristled, annoyed at Booth's presence.

"Doesn't seem to be talking to anyone at the bar except for lewd comments toward the women," Tony continued, looking at the plasma "I'd say he was looking for a place to crash for the night when he found the alleyway."

He hadn't noticed Booth set Parker gently in the chair and walk up to the screen, angry. Angry at Jared, angry at Tony, angry at everything.

"He's not homeless!" Booth spoke harshly, glaring at Tony, "I live twenty frickin' miles away from that place. I would've gladly taken him home, smacked him around, and told him to man up!" He spoke harshly in a sotto voce, so as not to wake Parker, but his point was well understood.

Ziva patted his shoulder behind him, "We know, Booth."

Tony blinked. He hadn't even seen Ziva reappear in the bull-pen. And it was annoying how she was nice to him. She wasn't nice to Paula when she was mourning her team.

"I just got a call from Security asking if they can let Dr. Temperance Brennan into the building?" She added, glancing at Booth, "She is your friend?"

"Let her in, I'll vouch for her." Booth muttered, "She's here to take Parker somewhere less…" He paused, "More appropriate for an eight-year-old." He glanced back at his still sleeping son, "I don't know what I'm going to do with him."

"Watch it, son." Gibbs told Booth lightly before turning back to the screen, "DiNozzo, what about the Harley?"

"Just checked the BOLO, Boss." McGee spoke for DiNozzo, "There's a hit on a Harley that matches the description Agent Booth provided me with." He frowned, "It's on the other side of town, in valet parking at the Georges Hotel and it's been there for two days. I just called them and they told me that someone took the Harley about fifteen minutes ago. Had a ticket and keys so they didn't realize it was stolen."

"And we didn't find a wallet on the body." Tony added, "Just the tags."

"He was mugged. Someone got his keys, valet ticket, wallet. His pockets were empty." Ziva said knowingly, "But why was he at a swanky hotel?"

"Had to have been mugged _after_ he left the bar." Tony spoke up, leaning in his chair, "Because he still had cash to pay for booze."

"Booth!" Brennan walked in, eyes wide. She sought out Booth and her arms were wide as if she was unsure what to do, "I got your message and I thought about calling you back but I decided to just come here and see if I could help." Her eyes softened, seeing Booth smile weakly at her. But it was a Seeley smile all the same, and it was comforting to the worried woman.

Ziva was delighted to see that Booth had, sure enough, lit up when Brennan walked in. It was easier to grieve when you had loved ones around. Something she had taken for granted once.

"Thanks for coming, Bones." He squeezed her hands, "They've got in it hand, but I'm just…" He hesitated and Ziva stepped in,

"He needs a familiar face."

"I do." Booth chuckled, "I also need someone to-uh" Booth glanced toward Parker before taking control of Bones, "We should talk somewhere more private first."

Gibbs eyed Ziva, "David, go with DiNozzo to the Georges. McGee-"

"Boss," McGee stood up, feeling awkward, "Um, I found an insurance form that basically states that in the event of Jared Booth's death, his brother gets a very large sum of money. Basically he'd have enough cash to buy a small island."

Gibbs looked at McGee for a second, not responding, "Find the mugger, McGee." He said instead, walking off to find Abby.

McGee nodded, turning to his computer to work a small miracle.

xoxoxox

"Now you stay there and think about what you've done!" Abby declared with a finish to her mischievous Mass Spec and turned around to see Gibbs there, eyebrow raised in his general 'what are you up to now, Abby?' look. Even if Gibbs claimed to be interested only in results, Abby knew that he liked her digressions. He just wouldn't show it because it would only encourage her.

"He's in a time-out. We had a small disagreement over some results." Abby threw a glare at the machine for effect, "But, as usual, your Gibbs sense brings you here exactly on time. I found something. Which is amazing, because practically everything is cleaner then a toothpick. Not that a toothpick is clean. Have you ever looked at a toothpick through a microscope, Gibbs? Because I have and it's not pretty," She rambled, walking over to her computer, Gibbs taking the moment to turn down her music of choice.

She blinked, curious to know whether her customary Caf-Pow was simply lurking behind Gibbs. As if knowing what she was up to, Gibbs gave her his own look back and she sighed,

"Right. So the boots. They've been worn down practically to the heel and scuffed all over. Their owner seriously should've thrown them out a year ago at least."

"Homeless person?" Gibbs asked softly, thinking about the mugger angle.

"That's what I'm starting to think. The blood on the soles matches Jared. And the dirt is your common American dirt found in urban areas like Washington DC. They're flimsy and one of them has a hole on the big toe area. In fact, they've been worn for so long, I've been able to get a foot mold of our culprit." Abby grinned, pointing to it, "He wasn't size twelve, though. More like thirteen."

"Homeless. Desperate for money." Gibbs stared at the mold, "You can match this to our killer?"

"Yep. But not exclusively so." Abby warned him, "No scars or anything distinctive popped up in the mold. So any homeless man that's a size thirteen would fit the bill."

"Got anything else?"

Abby looked at him, "He was really smart. Wiped the boots down inside _and_ out, including the laces and the edges." She huffed, arms on her hips, "No fingerprints. Whoever he is, he's a pro's pro." The bell from the elevator rang and Abby brightened,

"That'll be Jimmy with the bullet."

The elevator bell rang and Jimmy walked in, holding an evidence bag, "Hey Abby. Ducky got the cell phone off in mostly one piece." He held up the evidence bag.

"Yay!" Abby clapped her hands and then looked at the bag, "Ooh, he had taste. An iPhone." Abby grinned, "I want one of these."

"Lucky for us that the mugger didn't take his phone." Jimmy commented idly

Gibbs stared at Jimmy, "What?" and Jimmy blinked. Gibbs scowled and shook his head, muttering something about talking to McGee as he stalked out. Jimmy stared at Abby, frightened. Abby just shrugged at him, before frowning,

"Wait, where's the bullet?"

Jimmy sighed, "Ducky thinks it was pulled out before the guy burned half of the body. The killer literally furrowed out a hole and plucked out the bullet. Ducky can't even find a fragment."

Abby shook his head, "Man. This guy is good." She stared at the phone, "But I _will_ catch him." She was delighted to find her Caf-Pow by her keyboard, and happily slurped it.

xoxoxox

"I'm not focusing as much as I should be." Booth admitted quietly, "I keep getting distracted. Mostly thinking about Jared's face. It's still all normal looking and stuff, except it's paler and…" He sighed, "Dead now, I guess. And I shouldn't have brought Parker along. I don't know what I was thinking. I'm too worried that he's going to find out the wrong way."

Brennan nodded, "Who's handling the remains?"

"Uh, a Dr. Donald Mallard. Asked me to call him Ducky."

"That's quite unprofessional." Bones frowned, "But he has been published before and I've always enjoyed his cases. They're half as unusual as ours." She admitted

"I should've gone on that trip with Jared." Booth muttered, "I could've gotten leave."

"No." Bones spoke gently, "You had Parker."

"I have Parker." Booth corrected lightly, "I need you to take him somewhere more normal. He doesn't need to be here."

"But you do." Bones sighed, understanding his thought process, "How about I drop him off at a friend's house before picking up Angela? She could help speed things along, not to mention Hodgins and Dr. Saroyan. We can help."

"I appreciate you doing this for me, Bones, but I better not." Booth explained, "Gibbs' not the kind of guy who appreciates extra sets of hands at face value. If you could take Parker, watch him for the day, though...I'd really appreciate that. He doesn't need to be here." Booth repeated.

After a short staredown, Bones nodded half a fraction.

"I'll take him." Bones said, finally, "But at least let me have a quick look at the body. Just so I know that Dr. Mallard is being accurate with Jared. He's important to me too." She squeezed Booth's hand lightly, "Because you're important to me."

"He's on the bottom floor. I should clean Parker up first anyway. He got his hands on a candy bar and now his face is all covered with chocolate." Booth explained heavily, touched by his partner's admission, "Keep in touch."

"You too." Bones added, "Are you _sure-_"

"I'm sure." Booth spoke with finality, "I trust Gibbs."

Bones nodded but she hesitated, "Booth…would it be okay if I hugged you?"

Booth looked at her, surprised that she asked but nodded. Usually he was the one hugging Bones. She smiled sadly and hugged him tight.

"I'm here." She whispered softly

"I know." Booth said heavily, grateful for the hug. "Thank you, Bones. And just take him to a museum or something. He'll like learning something from you."

"There's a great children's museum I've been meaning to see anyway. I owe the curator a visit." Bones admitted, "Just ten minutes, Booth, and I'll be all ready to take Parker. I'm sure this Dr. Mallard is doing a good job, but I'd like to be sure."

oxoxoxo

"Oh yeah, I remember the guy. Sweet ride." A gangly sixteen year old kid drawled. He wasn't even looking at Tony but staring blatantly at Ziva's butt as she spoke to someone behind the valet desk about the robbery. Annoyed, Tony rolled his eyes,

"Hey, I'm sorry I don't have a nice ass, but you mind focusing for a few minutes?" Tony said sharply, "Can you describe him?"

"Uh, nice treads and chromi-"

"The rider, not the ride." Tony said, exasperated.

"Oh." The kid ruffled his head, squinting, "Uh, dark crew cut, light-colored eyes. Little taller then you are and totally built."

"So he was a marine?" Tony pressed

"I don't think so. He had a Nazi tat." The kid hesitated, squinting his eyes, "It's on his right shoulder. I only saw it because he scratched it before he left. He looked like the kind who could crush me with one glance, dude."

"You sure it was a Nazi tattoo?" Tony asked, looking up at him with interest

"Yeah. It's uh, 'bout the size of a normal coffee-mug. Has a swastika, so I'm pretty sure it's a Nazi tat." He hesitated before opening the hole of his sweater to pull out a Star of David, "Any other questions?"

"Anything else you notice about the guy?" Tony asked lightly, resisting the urge to glance toward Ziva. She hadn't worn her Star of David since she'd come back from Somalia.

"No. He didn't say anything. Just nodded and climbed up on his ride. Look, can I go now? I'm losing tips talking to you,"

"Go." Tony sighed, closing his notebook. Ziva wasn't going to like this. He turned around to see her suddenly standing in front of him, a common occurance.

"I have a receipt with a signature that looks like a forgery of Jared Booth. Guy couldn't give me anything else. You?"

"I got a feeling we're looking for a skinhead. Kid told me he had a swastika tattoo on his right shoulder." Tony said, looking at her to see her reaction

Ziva was silent, shaking her head, "I told you I had a bad feeling."

Her phone rang and she glanced at it. Her father. Again. She ignored it, putting it back into her pocket. She definitely couldn't talk to him now.

Tony wondered who she was ignoring.

"Ex-boyfriend?" He joked

"No." Ziva informed him, nonplussed, "Let's go in and see if this _goyim_ is on the tapes." She muttered something else in rapid Hebrew, as she texted someone on her phone, shaking her head.

"Think it was a hate crime now?" Tony asked idly, "The death and the arson?"

"It was always a hate crime from the minute that man wrote these words into existence." Ziva said shortly, "But I do not know who our killer hated more: Jared or Israelis."

Tony stopped and stared at her, "You call him Jared?"

"So?" She asked, "When I think of Booth, I think of the alive one so it is easier to think of the dead one as Jared and not Booth. Otherwise it gets confusing."

"Why are you nice to him? You weren't nice to Paula." Tony referred to Agent Cassidy, who Ziva prodded as she mourned for her family. Ziva believed that Paula needed a target for her anger and had decided to be a target. It was an oddly nice thing to do.

"Because you are being the not-nice one to him." Ziva told him patiently, "I do not need to do it. And he reminds me of someone." She added idly

"You?" Tony asked

"No." Ziva did not answer his question, "Let's go inside and ask the manager if a Jared Booth ever checked in." She strode inside, Tony following her, wondering if she was lying to him. He could never tell.

Xoxoxoxoxo

Bones surveyed Jared's body. It was half burnt in certain areas and perfectly normal in others. She felt a twinge as she looked at Jared's perfect marbled face. His eyes were shut, but Bones remembered how his blue eyes danced as he made a joke or spoke about his time in the Navy. Jared loved being an officer and Brennan quite enjoyed him in his dress whites.

Sweeping her eyes down, she took in each small nick and charred flesh bits. He'd been on a bad diet lately, judging from the baby fat hardly discernable to the eye. His skin was also more tanned then she could recall. But he'd been on the road for a while, the sun beating down his back.

His hair was still cut in crew-fashion, though. She wondered idly if he missed the Navy.

Her eyes sharpened as she looked at his legs. The knees, especially were burnt to the bone.

"Dr. Mallard, do you have pre-autopsy photos of his legs?" Bones stood up, looking at Ducky who looked back at her, startled that she said something after such a long pause. He didn't know how she worked in such _silence_.

"Yes, yes, Jimmy will get them for you." Ducky assured her, smiling. He too, was familiar with Bones' unusual reputation. And he also enjoyed her books, "What do you suspect, Dr. Brennan?"

Jimmy jumped and went to go get the file. If Ducky was impressed with Dr. Brennan, then Jimmy was in _awe_ of her. He had actually wanted to work as an intern for her, but did not have a strong enough background in anthropology to even make it to the second round. However, he could get Dr. Brennan these pictures and hopefully impress her. His parents were going to freak out tonight when they learned that their little boy helped Dr. Brennan with a murder case.

"He was bent when he was shot. Like he was ducking," Bones spoke conclusively, "I feel very comfortable saying that, but I'd have to see the original photo to be certain. It would make sense if this murderer rearranged the corpse after the bullet was pulled out."

"What an excellent deduction!" Ducky praised her, eyes glowing, "I'll wager that your hypothesis is accurate and Gibbs will almost certainly sign off on a chance to have the body inspected for prints, though it's a long shot."

"He was definitely killed before the fire and this body has definitely been tampered with, prior to the fire." Bones spoke with authority and sighed ruefully, "I'll have to go back up now. But please confirm my theory with me at this number." She handed him her card, "Thank you, Dr. Mallard, for allowing me to look over your body."

"Thank you, Dr. Brennan, for the second opinion." Ducky replied, "And you are free to call me Ducky, of course."

"I'd rather not. I find it too unprofessional to call a grown man with several doctorates by a moniker like that." Bones explained, "Perhaps once we know each other a little better."

"Perhaps." Ducky agreed with a chuckle, "I'm surprised you know I have more then one doctorate."

"You're not the only one in this room with impressive credentials." Bones smiled warmly, "Otherwise I would've stolen Jared back to my own lab."

Ducky chuckled, and she laughed with him.

Palmer came back to find Ducky talking to the body about Bones' theory.

"Where's Dr. Brennan?" He asked, confused and holding the file in question

"She had to go. Are these the photos?" Ducky asked, turning around with interest and then taking the file from Palmer, "Ah, yes, she was correct after all." He muttered, "Then this man was close enough to catch Jared's eye. And it was dark, so it couldn't be more then ten, twelve feet, maybe…" He continued muttering as he walked over to the phone to call Abby and get her corroboration in on the ducking.

Palmer sighed disappointedly, looking at his black Sharpie. He had been working up the courage to ask Dr. Brennan to sign an autograph and now he'd never get the chance.

Oxoxoxoxox

Booth sat at Tony's desk, clicking on the different crime scene photos. It was hard to see Jared like that, but he did it anyway. He needed to see if there were any clues. Anything that might lead him to his brother. He had nothing else to do anyway.

McGee was making different phone calls and striking out every time. But Booth was impressed with how the young agent wasn't giving up. Most would have delegated the calls by now.

"How do you think the killer left?" McGee asked suddenly, looking at Booth, "No way he walked. Not when it's fifty degrees in the morning and there's puddles everywhere from the rain."

Booth leaned back, "No tire tracks found at the scene."

"Rain might've washed it away. Didn't stop raining until 0300. I'm actually amazed he managed to get the fire going with a little light trickle falling down and spread the way it did." McGee commented

"It was arson on Jared. Goddamn gasoline accelerant." Booth said wearily, "Guy was trying to cover tampering with the body. But Bones found the truth in the bones again." He smiled despite himself, "She always does."

McGee looked at him curiously, "Ziva says that you're in love with a woman. That her?"

"Huh. Ziva's almost as perceptive as I am." Booth commented, "Wonder if she's realized that she loves your partner too." He looked back at the pictures, "Isn't there a shelter like a block away from this street?"

"Three blocks. I've already called and there's no record of a Jared Booth or anyone matching his general description. I've starting including Tony's Nazi-Tat guy, but no hits so far." McGee explained, "Why?"

"There's a gas station nearby. Killer could've gotten gasoline there, gotten boots from the shelter and found his merry way back to Jared." Booth said thoughtfully, looking at a DC map.

"He could've. But the shelter reported no unusual activity." McGee said, "_But_," McGee stopped as if remembering something, "The uh-the secretary was telling me that a homeless man had his boots stolen last night. Thought I was police or something before I explained the nature of my call and then offered to pay for a pair myself. She said he was size thirteen." His eyes were wide as he fumbled with the phone and Booth handed McGee a jacket,

"Go," Booth grinned, delighted to help assist in a breakthrough. He wanted to come along, but he knew Gibbs wouldn't approve.

"I'll drive." Gibbs called out of nowhere, "DiNozzo and David are back in five minutes and I want you…" Gibbs stopped in front of Booth as if deciding what to do with him, frowning.

"I'll stay here, as an observer."

"I don't trust you by yourself." Gibbs shot back, "You're with me too. Get your gear." Gibbs walked over to the elevator, not giving a surprised Booth time to react. Grinning, he followed Gibbs out. He was happy to have a chance to see some more of what Jared might've been around. But he hated the idea that Jared was killed over a mugging. Jared didn't even have that much money and his credit cards were overextended.

But it was odd that the killer left the phone. Why take Jared's wallet with useless credit cards and maybe twenty bucks and leave behind a $200 phone? It was bothering McGee.

So much that McGee hadn't even registered Booth's idle comment before they found their next lead.

Xoxoxoxoxo

Bones watched Parker play football with Wendell as she stirred her tea idly. Angela was pacing back and forth, talking too fast for Bones to focus. She just watched Parker smile delightedly as he squirmed and ran past Wendell with the football, his face scrunched up and determined to win the game.

Booth claimed he was nearly all Rebecca, but Brennan saw more of Parker's father in him. Not just in terms of bravery, loyalty, and charisma, but in the face. Though Rebecca's traits were more obvious, Parker had his father's chin, the slightly crooked nose, the jawline, and the slope of his forehead mirrored Booth.

And more then that, he had Booth's smile. It was even contagious like Booth's, making everyone else around him smile and laugh too.

"Bren!" Angela knocked her out of her thoughts, "How's Booth doing?"

"He's all over the place, but he didn't want us to help." Brennan sighed, "Just asked me to take Parker and watch him for the day. He suggested a museum, but I thought it might be prudent to take him here and discuss this with you first. Why is Wendell here?"

"Oh, uh, he lives close by and I wanted him to look at my plumbing in the bathroom. False alarm," Angela explained awkwardly, "Does Parker know?" She added in a hush, her eyes trained on the little boy with lanky blond hair.

"Booth told me not to tell him. He's waiting until NCIS catches Jared's killer to tell Parker anything. Doesn't want Parker having nightmares, which I understand." Brennan admitted, "I'll probably take him to the children's museum that just opened."

"Well," Angela huffed, "Did you look at any of the other evidence?"

"Couldn't. Booth didn't want to step over NCIS' toes. He's letting them lead the investigation." Bones sighed, "Booth really respects the leader, an uh…Agent Gibbs. Apparently the man is a Marine."

"Semper Fi." Angela nodded in understanding, even if she didn't like the reasoning, "Well, I don't care. I'm at least calling their forensics guy to see if he's competent. Maybe even get him to download some pictures on my laptop. And if that doesn't work, I can sneak Wendell into the building." She added thoughtfully, "He could pass for a mail-intern or something with the right IDs…"

"You've been spending too much time with Hodgins." Bones laughed, shaking her head, "But be my guest, Angela. I'm going to uh, call the curator first. He'll be delighted to know I can come and visit."

xoxoxoxox

Tony sneaked a look at Ziva as her phone rang again and she ignored it again. They were on their way back to base with a stack of videotapes. There was no record of a room under Jared Booth, but the videotapes of valet would hopefully identify whoever had checked in the Harley.

"Who's calling you?" Tony asked, curious about who was trying to contact Ziva so much.

"A person." Ziva said lightly, her fingers flying across the keypad as she texted a message to someone.

"The friend from this morning?" Tony prodded further, bristling as he thought of the handsome man who had greeted Ziva so warmly at the crime scene. Nadir or Nathan or Namir or-

"Nadav?" Ziva chuckled at the thought, "No, not him." She sighed, "My father. He wants me to come back to Israel."

"Haven't you already been over this when you filed for permanent citizenship?" Tony asked, shooting a look back at her as he readjusted himself.

Despite himself, a vision of Ziva looking up at him with bloody cuts and the emptiness of her eyes flashed in his mind. Tightening his fingers around the wheel, he knew that he wasn't letting her go. Her father had thrown her to the wolves and Tony wasn't letting him do it again.

"For the holidays." Ziva corrected, "The whole family will be in Israel excepting myself. My father wants me to take leave and visit for the Jewish New Year. I cannot leave the country until my papers are fully processed."

Tony looked at her with interest, "You have a whole family?"

"Yes. I have three uncles, four aunts, seven cousins, several cousins once removed and a grandfather." Ziva said, annoyed, crossing her arms, "Attendance is considered mandatory, unless deep undercover, so my father is being less then diplomatic." She glared at her phone as it vibrated again, as if the force of her glare would stop her father from calling, "I would like to go and see them as well, but…" She trailed off

Tony looked at her sympathetically, "Well, I'll celebrate with you. We'll stay up until midnight and Abby can make a few fireworks. I think I still have some champagne…" Tony mused, inwardly practicing his Dick Clark voice.

Ziva chuckled as she did when she found Tony doing something amusing, "I am afraid it is much more intricate then the American New Years. But thank you for the kind offer. I think I will just-" She shrugged, "-Find my own way, I suppose."

oxoxoxoxoxOx

"Gibbs!" Abby whirled around, eyes wide as if expecting Gibbs there. He was not, but she was thrown off as Ziva entered with a smile,

"Gibbs called. Said he has bad reception and wants me to see what you had." She explained lightly

"Nothing good. Well, I mean it's a breakthrough, but it's not one that anyone's going to like. I don't think…" Abby frowned, "No, definitely not, seeing as how I don't even understand the result. I think it's a code or-"

"What is this not good news?" Ziva asked soothingly, an amused smile on her face as she cut off Abby's rambling.

Abby sighed, "Right, I couldn't get anything off the iPhone. It's just about dead. _But_, I was able to trigger a memory receptor of RAM in it. Thaty means that I retrieved the last thing that our victim did on his phone. In this case, it was a text message."

"What does the message say?" Ziva asked

"Park Safe." Abby scrunched her nose, "I know. Totally vague. At first, I thought he might be talking about the name of a park or a brand of banking safes or something, but it doesn't match up with anything. Well, then I thought he might mean it literally, although why park safe instead of _drive_ safe? And then I thought of brake lines, so maybe someone's brake lines were cut? Although it seems stupid to warn us about that because the only-"

"Abby!" Ziva cut her off, "Our victim has a nephew named Parker." She frowned, pulling out her phone, "This is not good."

xoxoxoxOxox

Parker looked over at where Brennan was, laughing with a man that had a bad comb-over and a girth that would've made Santa jealous. Her eyes would flick back to Parker every couple of seconds and he knew he was going to get away with too much right now. She was almost as good as his real mother at making sure that he was staying out of trouble.

But at least this museum was pretty cool, compared to some of the others that he'd been dragged to go see. He found himself admiring a skeleton of a sabretooth, trying to picture how it must have looked with its fur and steely eyes. The bones were shiny and Parker fancied that he could almost see the sabretooth smiling at him.

"I always wanted to ride one of these as a kid." A man informed him, taking another picture of the sabretooth.

"Me too." Parker told him cheerfully, "Only, I'm still a kid."

"Parker, let's go look at the bones over here." Brennan said, sweeping over to Parker with a frown for the man next to him, "Have you seen an allosaurus?" She diverted him from the photographer, deciding not to lecture Parker on Stranger-Danger. Besides she preferred his company to that of the curator. He had overindulged on the cologne again.

"I don't remember," Parker admitted, scrunching his nose like Booth did when something stumped him, "Are they the ones that eat plants and jump like kangaroos?"

"They walk with four legs, but the bone structure of their spine is curved like a kangaroo." Brennan smiled warmly at him, "You're very smart, Parker."

"Not really. I'm only okay in school, because I can't pay attention all the time. My teacher says it's because I like talking too much."

"Ah. Well I'm sure you'll learn how to listen someday." Bones told him lightly, "What do you want to see next?"

"The bathroom."

Bones' eyebrows furrowed, "I don't think they have one of those on exhibit."

Parker giggled, "No, a real one. I have to use the boy's room. You're so funny."

"Well, even scientists have their moments." Brennan admitted ruefully, "I'll wait for you here. The bathroom's just down there," She pointed down a hallway where a neatly scripted sign had an arrow for the boy's restroom. Parker scurried down, relieved. The man photographing the allosaurus followed Parker with a grim look on his face.

Brennan watched the man go into the bathroom uneasily, trying to tell herself that she was just being paranoid. Then her phone vibrated and she picked up, seeing that it was a text from Booth:

_Park not safe. Get to NCIS_

Something had happened and Bones looked back up, already screaming Parker's name. She ran down, scared for Booth's son. In the process, she dropped her phone. Pushing open the door, she found a fast asleep Parker being carried out the window. He was limp, as if under the effect of chloroform. There was a man on the other side of the window, pulling him out. Then another man was pushing Parker out. He had heard her screaming and her entrance as well. It was the same man who tried to talk up Parker earlier and Brennan took that moment to memorize every feature of his face.

Her weapon was useless in the drawer of her night-table. All she had now was her voice and her eyes to identify this man. With an ugly scowl on his sunburned face, he turned around with a shiny gun, not even giving her a warning before the shot. She ducked as he fired, playing dead, already planning her next move to get Parker back. For Booth.

Unfortunately, her ploy to play dead worked too well. From the trauma of the gunshot to her ribs, and the bang of her head against the tile, Bones blacked out.

The museum cops arrived on the scene about a minute later, NCIS almost five minutes after. Little evidence was found, save a bottle of generic chloroform that was wiped of all prints and a thick set of tapes.

However, it didn't change the fact that Temperance Brennan was in a coma at Bethesda and Parker Booth was currently missing. Everyone was at the NCIS building now, if only to console Booth or offer help on finding Parker. Brennan's prognosis was uneasy, though the doctors were confident that she'd wake up within the first 48 hours.

However, if Parker wasn't found within the first 48 hours, it wasn't good. Gibbs was mainstreaming coffee into his veins as he ordered random people around, trying not to think about an eight year old girl with dark red hair and a smile that could be wrapped around the sun.

Booth just looked at the picture of the man that the computer was currently trying to identify with the face-recognition software. No one knew his name yet, but it was the only lead they had to Parker and Jared. Just another few hours before the bastard had an identity. Angela was going over museum tapes, watching Booth out of the corner of her eye as her foot shook and wobbled.

Hodgins was double-checking Abby's evidence with a fine toothed comb. They had already started three different bickering matches over minor points that had the same general conclusion (in that there was none). Wendell was now referee as he tried to keep the forensic work going to an actual lead instead of nowhere.

Ziva and McGee were both calling different hotels and bars all over the country, based off of Jared's postcards to Booth, desperate for anything. Tony was issuing Amber Alerts, still trying to track down the Harley.

And Dr. Saroyan was holding vigil by Brennan's bedside. Brennan's team was taking shifts between watching Brennan and watching Booth. Angela was currently glued to Booth's side, prepared to calm him down, though she was still shaky herself. This was _not_ supposed to happen.

Tony hung up the phone with a grim look, "Harley got towed around 0200 to Metro. I'll go pick it up, boss." He grabbed his jacket, McGee following his lead as back-up. Gibbs nodded his agreement, already knowing that it would lead to nothing. This guy was too good. That and the fact that Parker had been kidnapped at 0320 suggested that the Harley had been abandoned.

No witnesses saw anything out of the ordinary and the window outside of the men's bathroom was just an alley. The kidnappers could have easily loaded Parker onto a truck and gotten out that way. No tire tracks though and no one came forward to report anything suspicious.

Gibbs had even allowed an NCIS hotline for information about Parker. But that was just keeping Tony busy fielding callers who didn't know anything about the crime until he received the news about the BOLO. Now Ziva would deal with that tip line.

She had been all work since the news dropped, yelling and typing furiously as she tried to find any kind of lead. Gibbs forced himself to swallow as he snuck another glance at Booth, who just stared at the nameless man who probably had his son.

This was one case hitting too close to the heart.

xxxx**cliffhangerwarning**oooooo**youhavebeenwarned**xxxxxx**:)**

The computer trilled happily and Angela clapped her hands.

"We've got him!"

and then her face fell.

xoxoxoxo

**Thanks so much for the reviews. Really, I wasn't expecting so much from a crossover. But it really made my week. Well, that and New Moon opening. The only way this week could get any better is if there was some REAL Tiva action on Tuesday. Was anyone else, like totally disappointed last week??? So many opportunities, so few seized. If Tony does not break his Saharan spell with Ziva soon, I may just scream in frustration.**

**I'm sorry, it's not as long as it was before, but I'm a firm believer in quality over quantity. So far, that belief has worked fairly well for me...I like to think anyway.**

**Sorry about the cliffhanger. I know how some people hate them, which is why I posted a warning. That way, the cliffhangerhaters can just stop reading before the actual hanging of the cliff. Or does it not work that way? Let me know, if you're a cliffhangerhater and if you read it!**


	3. Chapter 3

**Disclaimer: I disclaim NCIS because if I owned NCIS, I would have Tony and Ziva married by now. I mean, SERIOUSLY. And I disclaim Bones, because honestly, I never would've axed Zack. Even if I personally, have taken a shine to Wendell and Vincent. But Hart Hanson and Don Bellisario are the ones who made those choices and I judge them for it.**

**Chapter Three**

"Max 'Mad Pain' Payne," Booth recited, the words tattooing themselves to his brain as he squeezed his hand into a fist. This was the man who kidnapped his son and gunned down his partner.

"Currently doing time in Leavenworth for manslaughter." Angela finished in a flat voice, trying to figure out how this could have happened, "Five more years before parole. But it's a 85% match on three quarters of the face." She added to herself, typing in a few commands to keep the program running to look for other matches.

"Calling Leavenworth." Ziva declared, grabbing her phone to talk to the handler on the other side.

"No. Call DiNozzo and tell him to get his ass to Leavenworth." Gibbs corrected her, "I need you to-"

"Payne's got a brother!" Angela called out with delight, scanning the further contents of the file on McGee's computer, "Brother visits him every week, according to these logs. He's probably a match to the face on screen."

Ziva looked at Gibbs, waiting for her new instructions, which he did with precision, firing commands:

"Get the damn address!" He yelled at Angela, pulling open his gun drawer to sling on his weapon. Eyes bright, Gibbs walked over to Booth, hand outstretched,

"You're leaving your weapons behind." Gibbs was making it clear that no one but Gibbs was going to get his way. He wasn't going to tolerate another almost rogue agent. Not after Cassidy.

Booth squared his shoulders, but gave a firm nod, "Fine." He discharged the gun inside his sling and handed it over.

"The knife in your pants also," Gibbs added, "And if you don't do what I say, she's going to shoot you." He jerked to Ziva, "We're arresting the bastard, understand?"

Booth tensed, but accepted the judgment. With great celerity, he lifted up his foot and expertly pulled out a slender knife strapped to his right calf.

"You can keep the one in your belt." Gibbs said, dropping the knife on his desk and Booth looked at him in surprise. No one knew about the knife in his belt.

Angela scribbled the address down and Gibbs grabbed it from her as Ziva thrust on her jacket and rushed behind them. Hesitating, Angela sent a silent prayer after Booth, hoping for the best.

"Call DiNozzo. Tell him to meet us here." Gibbs told Ziva in the elevator, thrusting the address over to her, "We're going to need all hands on this one."

Angela sat back down at the desk and dialed Camille to update her on the lead. Though it wasn't much of a lead since they didn't know what the brother looked like yet. But hopefully he was the horrible man on the videotapes.

OXOXOXOXO

"I don't know why I'm reading you from your book." Camille told the immobile Dr. Brennan, sighing, "But it worked for Seeley, so-oh!" She jumped as Brennan squeezed her fingers, "Dr. Brennan?" Camille asked, nervous, almost convinced that she had imagined the squeeze.

There was no reply

And then the phone vibrated. Still holding Temperance's hand, Camille picked up and greeted Angela.

"What's the latest?"

"The face matches some guy with the perfect alibi: Prison." Angela sighed, "But uh, there's a brother in the picture, so hopefully they look alike. Everyone's going down to arrest him and find Parker. How's Bren?"

"I could've sworn she squeezed my hand." Camille spoke softly, bewildered, "Out of nowhere."

"Really? That's a good sign." Angela said enthusiastically, "It means that she's responding to us. What did you say?"

"Oh, uh." Camille sighed, trying to clear her mind, "Something about Booth. Oh!" Camille jumped again as Brennan's EKG beeped faster and faster before slowing back to its normal rate. And there was pressure on Camille's fingers for a half second before it ebbed.

"It happened again." Camille said wonderingly

"Booth. She responds to Booth's name." Angela sighed, lost in her romantic mindset, "She must know unconsciously that she needs him."

"Oh Angela," Camille sighed, not in the mood to play such games, "I'm sure it's just a coincidence."

"Brennan needs Booth." Angela said stubbornly, "In fact, I bet she'd wake up if he came. Just like Sleeping Beauty." She sighed inwardly as Camille rolled her eyes at Angela's wistful thinking. It was no secret that Angela was the biggest supporter for Booth and Brennan getting together and being an actual couple.

"She's probably just coming out of her coma now, that's all. The Glasgow level was fairly mediocre compared to most comas." Camille spoke logically, "And the anesthesia from her surgery is still wearing off."

"Oh yeah?" Angela challenged, "Why don't you say Booth's name to her? See how she reacts."

"Angela," Camille sighed, though a tiny part of her was curious to see what would happen, "Oh, fine." She muttered

Holding Brennan tighter with her hand, Camille smiled shakily. It was hard to see her usually indomitable colleague on a hospital bed, all taped up and on a respirator.

"Seeley Booth," Camille whispered clearly, eyes on Brennan's face as she bit her lip.

For a second, there was no movement and Camille sighed, about to tell Angela no such luck.

Then Brennan's hand gripped hers strongly before the EKG went wild, beeping too fast for comfort. Nurses ran in, screaming with a crash cart and shouting out commands. A doctor followed and expertly ushered Camille out as he soldiered the fight to save Temperance Brennan.

Angela squawked on the phone, demanding an update that Camille didn't have the words to give. She just listened to the noises, her heart beating in time to a prayer that only God could understand.

XOXOXOXOX

Parker kicked his legs, but it was no use. They were too short to reach the ground, so he was stuck swinging them in the hopes that his heavy chair crashed down and he managed to wriggle himself free from the duct tape that bound his wrists together behind the chair.

If his arms were just a little longer, he could probably reach the Swiss Army Kit that his father had bought him. A special one that was nearly undetectable, tucked away in his back jean pocket. It had a slim knife that he could probably cut the tape with.

"_Take it everywhere with you, Parker. You never know when you'll need it,"_

Daddy had been right. Parker stuck his tongue out, focused on his salvation while listening for his kidnapper. Parker had woken up like this, in the empty room. The man who took him, whoever he was had just tied him up in this chair.

Shifting up, Parker managed to get his leg onto the chair and ended up in a crouching position that raised his tied wrists against the slim pole of the chair. Grinning, Parker managed to get the tips of his right fingers into the left back pocket. His knife was jammed into the bottom and if he could just lean up enough, he could probably fish it out. He could feel it and his heart hammered as he tried to focus on seeing his father again. Seeing his mother. Seeing his friends at school.

Tears leaked freely down his face as he tried to save himself, unaware of how many people were trying to do the same thing. Unlike Parker, however, Booth did not cry. Not yet.

The door swung open and a man with a black mask on walked in. Parker slipped down, fearful. He sniffled, but the tears kept flowing.

"Where am I?" He whispered, his eyes blinking

"Sit still…" The man growled, his piercing brown eyes were all Parker could see. They weren't like his daddy's warm brown eyes. They made Parker feel scared all over, especially on his neck, "You make any more noise and I'll make sure you don't." He declared, getting his meaning across. Parker nodded fearfully, eyes blinking.

The man left, swinging the door back shut. And Parker did not budge a muscle. He didn't even try to breathe too loudly. Instead, he closed his eyes and pretended that he was home, in bed where he felt safe and his dad was with him. He wasn't in an empty windowless room with only a chair to keep him company.

WVWVWVWVWVWVWVWVWVWVW

"Look, I have no idea what the hell you're all talking about." Mark Payne said wearily, "My brother is in prison for being a little too trigger-happy, but even he wouldn't hurt a kid. I'm not so sure about the Navy guy though."

Gibbs, Ziva, and Booth were all standing in Mark Payne's living room, guns at the side. Unfortunately, their hopes had been dashed once they realized that it couldn't have been the younger brother. Ziva was searching the house while Booth stared at Mark Payne, not flinching and Gibbs paced slowly.

Mark Payne was about half a foot too short and had twice the girth of the kidnapper. However, his brother 'Mad Pain' was a perfect match, but Tony confirmed that Max Payne was still in prison. He had, in fact, been in solitary confinement during Parker's kidnap. However, he did not have the swastika in question. But he was also on the videotape of the man getting on Jared's Harley at valet as well as walking after Parker into the bathroom.

"Why do you visit him every week?" Gibbs asked finally, eyes sharp

"Look, Max can be an idiot, but he's the only family I have." Mark explained wearily, "I'm trying to be a good brother by…" Mark sighed, shaking his head, "I don't know anymore. Why do you think he's responsible for this?"

"We have him on videotape following a little boy into a bathroom. That boy was kidnapped three minutes later and we think that your brother was responsible."

"What parents let their kid go to Fort Leavenworth?" Mark asked, horrified

"Not Leavenworth. A museum," Gibbs sharpened his gaze, "My agent tells me, however, that your brother was in confinement during the kidnap and asleep in his cell during the murder."

"Well, Leavenworth has very strong security." Mark said softly, eyes burning, "I have to talk to him through a plate-glass window and phone booth. He wouldn't kidnap your little boy though. No-" Mark broke off and hesitated, looking up at Gibbs with sharp eyes, "Max and I had a middle brother, Matthew. But I don't think he would-"

"Where is Matthew Payne?" Gibbs interrupted, his face still stone

"Missing. He's been missing since he was eight years old. Our father's drug deal went bad and they took him. We always thought that he got killed and dumped somewhere. Max never got over it. He would never hurt a kid, especially a little one," Mark explained nervously, "Max and I were separated by the foster system after that. But uh, I try to keep in touch with him. Family's important to both of us."

"I got a feeling that your other brother doesn't operate the same way." Gibbs said coolly, "We're going to catch him, arrest him, and your brothers should have a nice reunion in prison." He shut his notebook closed, "We're done here. You don't leave town, Mr. Payne, understand?"

"Yes sir. I-I honestly can't believe this." Mark's face was slack with comic disbelief, "I mean, I thought Matthew was _dead_. It's surreal to know that he's alive."

"Yeah?" Booth asked, walking right up to the man, eyes flashing

"Booth," Gibbs spoke quietly with an undertone of warning

Booth paused before walking out, his gait controlled and stiff. Gibbs followed him out.

"I saw you reaching for your holster, Booth." Gibbs said casually as they walked back to the car

"Force of habit. I wasn't going to shoot." Booth said quietly, "And how could I if I don't even have my weapon?" He shook his head, "Damn, I should've put one of these GPS locators on Parker. Or just stayed home with him," Booth rubbed his forehead

"Hey!" Gibbs glared at him, "We're going to find him, understand Agent?"

"It's going to be pretty damn hard, as we have to look for a man that's been presumed dead for most of his life." Booth said crossly,

"We'll find him." Ziva said, walking out with her confident stride, "Back to headquarters, Gibbs?"

"I'm driving." Gibbs said, eyes sharp, "You update DiNozzo and McGee." He walked over to the car and Booth exhaled for what felt like the millionth time. However, he couldn't seem to inhale enough air. Not since he had seen Bones' bloody body.

Ziva walked next to him, not saying anything. He was grateful for the chance to be alone with his thoughts, but not outwardly alone. The scenarios that ran through his mind were not the sort he could face truly alone.

He needed Bones. But more then that, he needed Parker. Booth's heart was in overdrive as he struggled not to think about what his FBI training told him about child abductions. But he was going to find this bastard and get his son back.

"You will get him." Ziva assured Booth quietly as he slid into the car, as if knowing he needed the confirmation. He nodded slightly to her, grateful for the confidence she seemed to exude.

KXKXKXKXKXKXKXKXKXKXKXKXKXK

"What do you got, Abs?" Gibbs asked, not thrown off by the curly haired Jack Hodgins or the scrawny looking Wendell who looked at him with interest. Abby nodded with authority,

"Uh, Dr. Hodgins inspected the boot and he's almost certain, after conferring with the picture that McGee took of the homeless man's feet, that our killer has a fungus on his left foot," She gestured to Hodgins.

"I cut the left boot apart and found minute nail shavings and pus around the inside portion of this hole." Hodgins explained, gesturing to the hole in question, "The fungus itself is fairly rare in the United States, but it's as common as garbage in India. No way that it came from the previous owner."

"And we discovered from the fungus that he left it untreated, so there'd be no medical record of it." Abby explained, "As far as we know, it's still there." She made a face, grossed out by the thought, "Judging by the flakiness of the scales, he's going to have to amputate that toe soon."

"Within four days if he doesn't want to get gangrene." Hodgins added with a nod

"I had Tony update the BOLO and distribute it to hospitals." Abby assured him, "This guy is going to need medical attention fairly soon, Gibbs. And I aged the photo of Matthew Payne at age eight to now, and it's an 87% match, which is the best we're going to get."

"Yeah? I don't have four days to sit around and twiddle my thumbs!" Gibbs thundered, irate, "Is there anything else?" He asked, in his half apologetic tone that only Abby picked up on

Hodgins seemed taken aback, but didn't start in with a smart-assed comment. He was affected by Booth too.

"This killer, whoever he is, he's been to India. He's an experienced traveler and a good hand with a gun." Hodgins said, for lack of anything else to say

"Not that good." Wendell said lightly, meaning it as a comment to himself

Gibbs turned, piqued, "What'd you say?"

Wendell turned red, "Oh, uh, well," He stuttered at first, taken aback, "Um, I just mean that the alley was decently lit. Nearest streetlamp was seven feet from where Jared was found. If Jared hadn't ducked," He motioned with his hands, "The bullet would've landed, what? Five inches lower, and it's not exactly a natural shot to shoot someone in the hip. Definitely not a kill shot,"

Gibbs stared at Wendell for a few seconds before Abby broke the silence,

"That's really smart actually. Not that it helps us find the actual bullet. The trajectory is totally messed up though, because the killer furrowed out a hole, so we can't even know where he was standing when he shot."

"He shot wide on purpose," Gibbs muttered, frowning, "The rain was picking up and he was banking on wind to push the bullet in its intended target."

"The wind was fairly moderate that night." Abby said, doing the calculations in her head, "The bullet, had Jared been standing upright, should've landed _here_, based on my earliest trajectory estimates."

She grabbed a laser pointer and shone it over Wendell's privates with some triumph, "Guy was trying to shoot Jared in the jewels, Gibbs. It's probably his signature if he's a long term sniper like you've been thinking from the beginning."

Wendell coughed and covered his privates from the intruding light. Hodgins chuckled, amused

Gibbs nodded, "Tell me when you got something else, Abs." He walked away and Abby sighed, before glancing at Wendell,

"Caf-Pow! Please?"

"On me," Hodgins said, holding up his wallet, "I need to get an update on Dr. Brennan from Angela anyway. You should do a model to figure out how where the shooter was, based on wind and comparing actual result over hypothetical." Hodgins said thoughtfully

"I'll do a model, but only because _I_ think it's a good idea to do a model." Abby said, not liking how Hodgins told her to do things. They squared off for a few seconds before he walked away, rolling his eyes. Wendell coughed, nervous and Abby smiled,

"You're smart Wendell. I like you." She declared simply, "Help me with this model."

MNMNMNMNMNMNMNMNMNMNMNM

Tony narrowed his eyes, seeing that Booth was sitting next to Ziva at her desk. However he sat at his own without mentioning it. Harley had squat, but it was in the evidence garage and Abby had a blond intern kid looking it over for possible forensics.

"DiNozzo, you're back."

"I uh, paid a visit to Max Payne over at the prison. He claims that he knows the identity that Matthew Payne goes by now. Won't settle for anything less then parole in six months. He's due out in five years, boss. But uh, we don't really have any authority with the DA's office."

Gibbs scowled, "I want him in Interrogation."

"Have him in there now, boss." Tony said lightly, "Brought him with me and a few armed guards too."

"Good." Gibbs stood up, eyes blazing and Booth followed. Gibbs turned around and stopped Booth in the chest,

"Ziva, you're with him." He said commandingly and Ziva nodded. Tony frowned, but followed both. Thus Ziva, Booth, Tony, and Dr. Sweets ended up on the other side of the window watching Max Payne sit at the table.

Dr. Sweets made no introduction, just watched the man. He turned and saw Booth,

"Dr. Brennan just had a heart attack but they got her heart beating normally again and she's expected to come back within an hour."

"Good." Booth said heavily, his eyes sharp, "Sweets?"

"Yes?" Sweets looked at him curiously

"You know how my son's doing?" He asked, in a deadly voice

"I can't say that I do at present." Sweets said lightly, realizing that he overstepped his bounds

"I can't think about anything but my son right now. I'd appreciate it if you let me keep it that way." Booth turned back to the window, eyes sharp. But Ziva could see that his eyes were getting glassy again.

"You are the psychiatrist?" Ziva asked, not rudely

"Lance Sweets," He smiled, taken in by her beauty, despite himself. Ziva was a bit of a honeypot when she put her mind to it, after all.

"You should discuss the killer with Ducky then." Ziva said thoughtfully, "He does psychological profiles for us and he'd really walk you through this case."

"Is that so?" Sweets asked, surprised

"Yes, ah, Tony will show you where Ducky is." Ziva said pointedly to Tony

Tony couldn't argue, as Ziva was Booth's babysitter and Booth wasn't going anywhere. But he didn't relish the idea of being the guy sent away with Mini-Elf Lord. However, if Ziva had not turned to him with her eyes set in a way that he recognized, he wouldn't have agreed. As it was, he nodded shortly and led Dr. Sweets out.

Damn Ziva with those all-too-compassionate eyes.

However, he was rushing through it. Just because she had gotten him didn't mean that he had to take his time and actually have a conversation with Mini-Elf Lord.

Ziva turned back to Booth after Tony departed, "Would you like me to leave as well? Some men do not like to cry in front of women." She spoke quietly

"Not going to cry." Booth said forcefully, his fists trembling, "I need to be strong for him."

"We'll find him," She said quietly, staying where she was.

Gibbs walked in, striding past the table and scraped the chair against the floor so it made a dull, blunt noise. He sat down into it, frowning.

"Just so you know, I am going to find out the alias that Matthew Payne currently uses." Gibbs started off lightly, and the prisoner rolled his eyes.

"Ooh, I'm so scared."

Gibbs narrowed his eyes and squared off.

Seven minutes and thirty-two seconds, he got a name and left Max Payne in the interrogation room to confirm that they were looking for a Mathias John Perry.

popopopopopopopopop

Rebecca snuggled up closer to Dan, smiling. She had never been as happy as she was now. Well, except for the day that Parker was born.

"I should call Seeley and check in on Parker." She said softly, looking up at Dan, a tall, broad shouldered man with a killer smile. Seeley hadn't liked him too much which meant that he was definitely a keeper.

"I'm sure they're fine." Dan told her, tucking his arm around her shoulder, "And it's almost two AM right now in DC." He added, "Why don't you call in the morning when they're awake?"

"Okay." She mumbled with a small laugh, "And what do you think I should do instead?"

Dan's eyes twinkled, "I can think of a few things."

MNMNMNMNMNMNMNMN

"We should get Gibbs." Ducky said

"No need." Gibbs stood in front of Ducky, causing Palmer to jump, "What'd you find?"

"It turns out our young sailor has a tattoo."

"Yeah, he got it when he joined the Navy." Gibbs gestured to what was left of the eagle on Jared's left arm.

"Yes, and he covered it with foundation." Ducky said absently, "I just wiped him down to find that tattoo and I discovered that our young sailor has another tattoo. However this one is most unpatriotic." Ducky gestured to Jared's right shoulder, "Palmer is taking a photo to Abby."

Gibbs turned to see a swastika and frowned, "Gang." He muttered with a scowl, thinking of the Harley.

"Abby will be able to tell you more." Ducky said cautiously, "Other then that revelation, I haven't found the bullet weapon as it's been removed and then burnt to excess." Ducky shook his head sadly at the charred portion of Jared Booth.

Gibbs walked away, his mind buzzing with the possibility of a biker gang. Skinheads weren't commonplace, but they weren't exactly rare either.

VNNVNVNVNVNVNVNVNVVNNNVVVN

"What?" Booth sputtered and then looked at the picture of Jared's tattoo again in disbelief. "No, Jared wouldn't. He was raised better then that." Booth shook his head, "There's got to be an explanation behind it."

"Why did he ask after Parker specifically?" Ziva added with curiosity, "What would your brother drag a little boy into?"

"Jared loves Parker. He wouldn't put Parker in harm's way." Booth said confidentially, "He sacrificed his entire career to save my life. Hell, part of me thinks that he probably sacrificed his own life trying to save Parker…Why didn't I ever get that damn text?"

"No bars in the area." Tony spoke up, "But someone took Parker for some reason related to why your brother is dead." He frowned, "Boss, maybe we've been looking at this the wrong way."

"Say it, DiNozzo." Gibbs said, looking over at McGee, who was typing furiously with Angela looking over his shoulder as they attempted to track down Mathias John Perry.

"What if the target wasn't Jared Booth, but it's his brother?" Tony suggested, "Jared figures out that they're after Booth by going after his family. And the men took out his partner."

"That doesn't explain the tattoo." Ziva spoke up, frowning, "And would Jared tell Booth that they're after him instead of to keep Parker safe?"

"He never finished the message." Tony reminded her lightly, "He could've been planning to text that after."

"Not if he knew that Parker was next." Ziva countered, "Jared had to know his killer."

Gibbs banged the desk, "He knew his killer." Gibbs eyes shone, "Why didn't he give us a name?" He muttered, frowning

"Gibbs!" Abby walked in, sighing, "I _had_ to get out of there. That Dr. Hodgins is so-" She shook her head rattled, "He takes too much space!" Frowning, she clapped her hands together, "Tattoo's a gang tat. Skinhead group called Axles. I don't know too much about the gang specifically, but they're on the CIA's watch-group list."

Tony and McGee groaned, hearing that.

"They are." A deep voice rumbled, accented softly. Gibbs looked up to see Trent Kort, exasperated. A steely eyed man next to Kort didn't say anything, just looked over the bullpen with eyes of almost disdain.

"You involved in this op?"

"No, but CIA is aware of my…" Kort paused, "_Relationship_ with NCIS. They sent me to see why NCIS is screwing around on our jurisdiction." He gestured to his friend, "This is one of the men involved, Agent Ben Chalmers."

"We were alerted of several computers searching for sensitive information that's classified." Agent Chalmers explained, glancing over at McGee and Angela with a cool look of disdain, "More specifically, for Mathias John Perry."

"Can't do that. We believe Perry-" Gibbs drew his arms together, "Kidnapped the eight year old son of a federal agent."

"Perry is controlled by the CIA. He's a mole we have operating within Axles. Axles itself responsible for more then 17% of the drug trafficking in North America. I've been working on this op for three years myself and it's been a project of the CIA since before my time. We're close to a victory on this one." Chalmers explained calmly, "He's not kidnapping anyone's little boy."

"I want to talk to Perry myself." Gibbs demanded, "We have video of him following our missing child into the bathroom just before he was kidnapped."

"Conjecture," Agent Chalmers shook his head, "At most, circumstantial evidence. Perry's innocent."

"Sure he's not just screwing you over?" Gibbs demanded to know, eyes sharp

"His information has always been top class." Chalmers shot back, eyes bright, "Unlike your dead sailor."

"Excuse me?" Booth demanded

"Jared Booth made contact with Axle during a road trip to Reno." Agent Chalmers explained stiffly to Booth, "We were quick to convince him to go along with the gang as a mole for the CIA. He complied."

Chalmers held up a USB drive, "We had a wire on Jared Booth when he drunkenly outs himself and narrowly escapes with his life until he met his demise here in DC. It should prove enlightening."

Gibbs took the drive from Chalmers and handed it to McGee who began to upload it into his computer.

"Who has the boy?" Gibbs drawled, turning back, arms crossed

"Not Axle." Agent Chalmers said with confidence, "We have them monitored."

"Well, you're doing a crappy job." Booth shot back, "Because they do have my son. Here's his picture." Booth shoved a flyer with Parker's smile on it in the agent's hand, "His name is Parker."

Kort's eyes furrowed and he glanced at Chalmers who paused, frowning as he took in the picture and information about Parker on the flyer.

Chalmers sighed, "I'll contact my sources again. But as far as the murder of Jared Booth, the CIA asks you to cease hunting down Axle and ruining years of CIA intelligence gathering."

"I want the name of the bastard who kidnapped my son and killed my brother!" Booth roared, beside himself.

"Two different bastards," Chalmers countered, "Axle is difficult to pin down because they delegate so much to freelancers, especially with hit jobs. Jared Booth was probably gunned down by a mercenary sniper. As for your son, if Axle took him, they would've used an outside man instead of someone up high like Perry."

"Then why was Perry at the museum?" Booth asked, annoyed

"I want Perry in my interrogation room, Kort." Gibbs drawled out, staring at Kort

Kort stared back, knowing what Gibbs meant. Then he sighed heavily,

"How about we get one of your agents undercover to meet Perry for an hour or so? He's undercover at the moment and stuck that way for a while." Kort conceded. Chalmers looked at him, startled, but he did not refute what Kort's offer.

"Me." Gibbs said coolly

"No." Chalmers shook his head, "You're too old. However…" He drawled and eyed Tony, "With the right look, we could probably get him in."

Gibbs looked at DiNozzo wearily, "Fine. But I want my people close by."

"No go." Chambers shook his head, "We'll take two, and even that's stretching it."

"And not the father," Kort added, eying Booth

"Fine. Myself and Agent David will go with DiNozzo." Gibbs declared, annoyed, "But I want to be able to talk to Tony during the op."

"Fine." Kort said coolly, "But in return, you must stop looking for Mathias John Perry. It's catching the attention of the wrong people."

"He going to know that I'm NCIS?" Tony asked, confused

"Nah. Far as Perry knows, you're just a fellow biker and it's going to stay that way." Chalmers explained in a hard voice, "Not even Perry can know that the CIA is doing this."

"Testing his loyalty, huh?" Tony asked, shrugging, "Alright." He grabbed his jacket and Ziva did as well. They followed the CIA agents, Gibbs glowering at them.

Booth stared after them for a few minutes before rushing after and grabbing Ziva's arm. She looked at him, startled.

"Parker and I have a code word." Booth explained softly, "Teddy." Ziva nodded, knowing what he meant.

"I will tell Tony." Ziva promised him lightly, both of them knowing that Tony was likely to be the one to find Parker.

"Thanks." Booth nodded shortly, dropping his arm to let her leave. She gave him a half nod before hurrying up a little quicker after Tony.

BNBNBNBNBNBNBNBNBNBNB

Angela sighed, unable to take the stress, "I'm going to go sit with Bren for a while. Call me if anything happens." She whispered to the focused McGee. He nodded absently, probably not listening to her. Booth was on McGee's other side waiting to listen to the wire.

She grabbed her jacket and Booth looked up, "Angela, don't go." He said, and Angela looked at him, confused,

"Booth, there's nothing else I can do here. They have plenty of forensic experts and I'm useless. I'm just thinking about Parker and Bren and-" Angela broke off, sighing, "What do you want me to do, Booth?" She asked, looking at him with compassion

"Stay safe." Booth told her quietly, glancing outside, "What if DiNozzo's theory was right? They're out for me?"

Angela nodded, not wanting to stress Booth out any further. She set her bag down, "I can always call up a few more rodent hotels that Jared stayed at."

"Thanks." Booth told her quietly

"Got it! Just let me e-mail a copy to Abby and then…" McGee muttered before moving the audio footage to the plasma and hitting play with some triumph

"_Hey Booth, want another drink? Sam Adams on me,"_

_"Oh thanks Chicky. But I don't want you getting me passed out and in a dress again."_

"That's Jared." Booth said wonderingly

_"Ha, ha, ha, oh that's just some good old fashioned hazing. Hey! Round of Sam Adams over here!"_ Someone's hand smacked down on a wooden surface

Gulping and some bawdy jokes took up the next couple of minutes. McGee was blushing red, but Angela was chuckling. More at McGee's reaction then the awful joke.

_"Hey Perry,"_ They heard Jared greet, _"Want to hear a joke?"_

Laughter from the tape ensued as Angela jumped, realizing that was Perry himself.

"_Booth? Damn, you're smashed again boys. How're you going to navigate your bike if you can't even find your head out of your drunk ass?"_

Booth winced, hearing that

_"I managed it pretty well last week, didn't I?" _Jared countered, and Booth could just see the drunken smirk on Jared's face, _"Even got that pretty girl you were eying in my bed too."_

Roars of laughter followed this admission. Angela felt like she was listening to a terribly scripted radio show

"I've never heard him this drunk." Booth said quietly, frowning

_"You're a lying bastard, Booth. You can't get anything except Sam Adams with those useless pretty blue eyes of yours!"_

_"You think my eyes are pretty? Sorry Perry, but I don't swing that way." _Jared drawled

"_This coming from a sailor_," Perry taunted lightly, "_You can't do anything, Booth."_

_"Oh yeah? You wanna know what I can do, Perry?"_

_"Yeah, I'm real curious. And banging down Sam Adams doesn't count."_

_"Hey, hey guys, take the fight outside."_ The bartender called out, and the tense atmosphere of Jared's experience seemed to repeat itself inside the bullpen, casting a pall over Angela and McGee, though grim Booth appeared unaffected

_"Nah, nah, they'll settle._" 'Chicky' claimed, "_Perry, sit down next to Ramones, man, beer on me."_

_"Fine." _Perry said lightly, and then a clinking sound, followed by a splash and a bellow of outrage from Jared ensued. Then faint perceptible shouts of,

'He's wearin' a wire! Cop! Cop!' could be heard. The tape went dead shortly after

"Sounds like Perry threw a mug of beer at Jared, the wire was discovered and someone pulled it out. Somehow Jared escaped all the way to DC."

"But if Perry is undercover, why would he splash Jared where the wire is?" Angela asked

"He could be screwing us over." Booth explained quietly, "He was on their side before ours, after all. And the CIA doesn't exactly inspire loyalty."

LMLMKLMLMLMLMLMLMLMLM

Tony scowled, looking at himself in the mirror. He had to shave his beautiful locks down to the short locks preferred by Axle. His brown hair was now barely above a centimeter and he could see his skull. So not a good look for him.

He spent months perfecting his bangs and now they were mowed down. What a mess. It'd be years before he could look in the mirror and smile. He made a face, and then consoled himself with the fact that it didn't matter.

After all he was vain about his hair because women liked his hair. And he wasn't interested in women right now. So even if his hair was butchered and women gave him looks of disdain, it wouldn't change his current status as Tony 'Strike-Out' DiNozzo.

"You look very convincing." Ziva spoke lightly behind him. He turned around, and saw that she was holding an earring, "It's a clip on. The bead is a camera apparently." She pointed to the bead in the middle of the silver hoop, "Goes on the top of your ear."

She touched his right ear lightly, sending shivers down his spine before clamping the earring down. Tony winced at the contact of the metal, much to her amusement. Her brown eyes glittered as his shifted to green and focused on her. The haircut seemed to highlight how long his eyelashes were and she was almost put off by how green his eyes could be.

Blinking, Ziva stepped back with a nervous smile, "McGee called. He wants you to watch yourself around Perry. Booth thinks he's a leak instead of a mole."

Tony nodded, "Booth think anything else?" He asked, slightly annoyed that Booth was coming up again.

"No. But he wanted me to tell you that he was a code word with his son. Teddy." Ziva explained lightly, "As it is likely you will be the one to recover Parker."

"Teddy." Tony repeated thoughtfully, "And where's the earwig?"

"Here." Ziva handed it to him, "The earring picks up audio. The CIA agents have a cover story prepped for you." She paused, "You will have your hair back again in no time."

"Hmm," Tony sighed, "Won't be the same." He grinned, raking his eyes over her, "Wanna know where else I shaved?"

Ziva laughed despite herself, eyes twinkling. It made Tony feel better about his hair.

"Now, now, Tony." She looked at him with her killer grin, "You are a five now, I presume?" She let her finger drag down his chest before dropping it back to her side. He colored lightly, much to her amusement

"Wouldn't you like to know?" Tony teased back, grinning

Ziva opened her mouth, but was interrupted by Gibbs walking into the changing room. She jumped, taken aback and Tony felt tense again.

"David, go to your station. DiNozzo…" Gibbs paused, looking over Tony, "Watch yourself."

"Yes boss," Tony nodded as Ziva left, feeling almost like a chastened child who'd been caught with a hand in the cookie jar.

POPOPOPOPOPOPOPOPOPOPOPO

A loud slam woke Parker up. He jumped and then found himself staring at the killer. Or at least at a man wearing a black ski mask that he assumed was a killer. All he could see was cold brown eyes. The same ones that had frightened him earlier.

He had fallen asleep by some miracle and now he was awake again in this windowless room. It felt like days had passed. Parker wondered if his father was still looking for him.

"Did you know that it's been a week, Parker?" The killer told him lightly, "Your daddy thinks that you died."

"He-he does?" Parker asked, scared. But even in his state, he could see that the white door was open. There was a hallway. It was plain white with no decoration or carpet. But light flooded in from it, brightening the dim room he'd been stuck in for…a week?

"Silence!" The man yelled, eyes glittering, "Do not speak unless spoken to!"

Parker nodded. He would cry if he didn't use up all his tears already.

"Your dad is at your funeral right now. It might be your uncle Jared's, I'm not sure." The killer continued, pacing silently around the room, "It doesn't matter to me." He turned to Parker, "I'm going to let you go, Parker, but you must do some things for me first, understand?"

Parker nodded, but his mind was whirling inside. His Uncle Jared was dead.

That was why everything had happened.

This was the bad man that Uncle Jared had tried to stop. And the bad man stopped Uncle Jared instead.

_"Parker, trust no one." Jared told him lightly as he tucked the blankets around Parker._

_"What about Mommy and Daddy?" Parker asked dazedly_

_"Well you can trust them," Jared conceded, "But no one else. There's a lot of bad people out there that you can't trust. Not even your friends."_

_"Like the man you're hunting." Parker said, grinning, "Pericles. Like in the story. He was supposed to be your friend."_

_"Yes." Jared agreed, "And I found out that Pericles is actually trying to do some very bad things. But you know what I'm going to do?"_

_"Stop him." Parker said with a grin, "And put him in jail, like my daddy does with bad guys."_

_"I'm going to stop him," Jared confirmed, stroking Parker's hair lightly, "And then I'm going to come back home and get a real job. I think your daddy's tired of me being a bum."_

_"He wouldn't be if he knew you were a super-secret agent," Parker argued_

_"I don't want him to know, buddy. Sometimes knowing things can be dangerous. Hell, I shouldn't have even told you that story." Jared countered, "Someone could go after your dad and hurt him if they thought he knew anything." He hesitated and glanced at Parker, "They could go after you, kid."_

_"Nah. Not if I believe that it's just a bedtime story, right?" Parker reminded him_

_"And what is the moral of my story?" Jared asked him lightly_

_"Trust no one." Parker said, giggling_

Trust No One reverberated around Parker's head as he stared at his real life 'Pericles.' The man stopped pacing and glanced at Parker.

"Do we have a deal, Parker?" He asked coolly

Parker nodded, eyes wide

"Excellent." He said lightly, closing the door to the lit hallway. Parker tried not to dwell on it.

"I," The man stood in front of Parker, cocky, "Am Pericles."

**Gosh I managed to scribble out the next bit in four days. Perhaps there really is a god...Either that or free time resulting from thanksgiving.**

**OMG, who else caught Parker on Child's Play as the little boy who finds the body? How amazing is that??? And just after Jackson Gibbs showed up on Bones! If that is not fate saying that Bones and NCIS are perfect crossover material, I don't know what is. And Saroyan's on a bunch of old NCIS episodes too! And Hodgins guest starred once too.**

**Okay, I am still miffed at the whole lack of TIVA action on NCIS. I mean, Child's Play started out with real promise. Especially the 'Bend Over' part and the neck cramp bit. But then...Nothing. NOTHING! Well, nothing except for me frustrated by the excessiver UST the writers are putting in the show. It's starting to feel more resolved then unresolved, which makes me mad. It doesn't bother me so much with Bones, because at least Booth KNOWS. So I wrote this to vent out my frustrations and it turned into a whole chapter. Which I guess, is good for you guys. And I felt sorta bad about the cliffhanger.**

**review please?**


	4. Chapter 4

Disclaimer: Don't own Bones, NCIS, or anything else remotely awesome. Am going to go cry now…just kidding, ha ha ha

XOXOXOXOXOXOX

"Hey." Russ walked over to Cam, looking worn, "Where's Tempe?"

Cam stared at him, astonished. "Russ! I wasn't even expecting you for hours!" She was amazed to see Brennan's brother, a subject, of which she knew very little about. Wearily he nodded and tucked his hands in his jacket pockets, his brown hair sticking up.

"Booth pulled some strings with my parole officer. I got on the road once they gave me the all clear and drove straight through." Russ explained, weary, "Any change?" He ruffled his messy hair, his eyes showing his clear worry for his sister if his appearance wasn't proof enough.

Cam nodded, putting her magazine over on the end table, "She had a heart attack a while ago. But they managed to start her heart again. It's beating normally now," Cam hesitated, "She was supposed to wake up hours ago, but the doctors are still optimistic. Your dad's in the room with her. Number 1221, it's just down the hall."

Russ sighed, running his hand through his hair again, his eyes wild, "What-uh, what started the heart attack?"

Cam bit her lip, "I don't know. The nurse said that she became very agitated for some reason and that put her heart in overdrive. They're monitoring her even more closely now to make sure that there's no irregularities." She doubted Russ would appreciate Angela's theory.

Russ nodded, "I'm going to call Amy and then…" He trailed off, staring down the hall, and Cam's heart went out to him. Russ faltered, before walking down to his sister's room. Cam heard Max greet him and she could just see the two men sitting on either side of Tempe's comatose bed. A tiny smile graced her face as she grabbed her vibrating phone.

"An-" She started, not looking at the caller ID

"Did she wake up yet?" Angela demanded, not waiting for Camille to finish her name. Camille could hear the worry in her voice.

"No. But Russ is here now with Max." Camille explained, "How's Parker?"

With a pang, Camille thought of Michelle and wondered how she would be able to handle her adopted daughter being kidnapped. She decided to call Michelle next, just check on with her, though she was probably having the time of her life at her school-night sleepover at Kelly's.

"NCIS is sending one of their agents undercover with CIA cooperation. They think he's with some gang that's involved with drug deals and stuff." Angela explained, sounding shaken, "I was going to go to the hospital, but Booth wants me to stay here. He's scared that this guy's after us. Because we're Booth's people,"

Camille's throat closed as her mind flashed to a memory of the poison that nearly killed her. Taking a deep breath, she assured herself that Howard Epps was dead and this was a different horrible man. One who would be brought down by the swift arms of Seeley Booth.

"Cam?" Angela asked after the silence touched a point of awkwardness, "You there?"

"Yes, yes." Camille sighed, "I was just thinking about the last time I was in a hospital bed."

"Oh Cam, nothing's going to happen." Angela assured her, "They're finding Parker as we speak. Where's Michelle?"

"She's sleeping over with one of her friends from school." Camille explained, resisting the urge to hang up on Angela right there and check on her newfound daughter. "They've got lots of security and Michelle has strict orders not to leave the house until I come collect her."

"Good." Angela said, biting her lip, "Booth's stalking around. CIA refused to let him come along on the sting." She added in a relieved whisper, watching as Booth paced around the bullpen.

XOXOXOXOXOXOX

Rebecca kissed Dan again, giggling, "Okay. _Now_ I'm calling Parker." She said with authority

"Isn't it the middle of his school day now?" Dan protested, pointing to the digital clock

Rebecca did the internal calculation and sighed, "Oh it is. Well, I'll just call Seeley then. I just want to make sure that he bought pajamas for Parker. I forgot to pack some for him. _Somebody_ was distracting me." She poked him light in the chest, giggling, "Where's my phone?"

She looked around and picked it up off the nightstand. Dan put his hand over hers, his blue eyes hypnotizing her as they often did. Rebecca always felt weak in the knees like a teenager whenever she was around Dan. There was something about him that made her go to pieces. Something _wild_.

Dan's smile broadened, "Oh come on. School's going to be over in four hours for Parker. Let's go scuba diving first. Have you ever seen the coral reef and the underground caves?" He added in a seductive whisper, Rebecca sighing at the thought.

"Well okay. I can call Parker later," Rebecca answered with a laugh, setting her phone down on the table and leaning over to kiss Dan. "Mmm. I'm going to take a shower and we're going to go play on that private beach out front." She kissed him again, even deeper, "I hate scuba diving, though, sweetie." She shuddered, thinking about the sharks.

"Okay. We'll go make out on the beach." Dan chuckled, "And again in the shower, yes?"

"Maybe." Rebecca laughed, pulling away from him, "You should make the dinner reservations now, before you forget like last time."

Dan watched her walk away, admiring her sway as he turned to the dresser and snatched her phone off of it. Walking outside with a beer, he chugged it for a few seconds before shutting Rebecca's phone off. She had 25 unread messages.

Whistling lightly, he dug a hole in the sand and buried the phone in it. Filling it back up, he turned back to the house before pulling his buzzing phone out of the pocket. Pericles was calling.

"Hey." He greeted his friend, eyes squinting out into the sun, "How's the weather?"

Perry coughed twice into the public phone, a grin on his face, "Forecast has been accurate so far. How's the weather on your end?"

Dan turned back to the house, "Sunsets are gorgeous apparently. Haven't caught one yet though. Gorgeous blond, you know, with legs a mile long. She's a bit of a scatterbrain though. Already lost her phone," He surveyed the ocean, eyes still sharp, "How's your latest?" He added, his voice changing

"Slow days. But I've got all the pieces I need." Pericles sighed wearily, "Haven't lost your video camera have you? You know I'd love to see something of your trip,"

"We haven't used it yet, but I think we might find an opportunity soon enough." Dan said, shifting, "It's got all the whizz-bang state of the art crap onto it. Hell, I can even send you stuff that's being recorded live."

"How interesting." Perry drawled, his eyes glinting, "I hope I can see something of your pretty blond."

"We can arrange something. When are you free to chat?" Dan said loosely, a grin curving on his face

"I'm swamped now, but I'll call you in a few hours and let you know. Have fun with Blondie."

"Thanks." Dan hung up and tucked his phone back in, a radiant glow on his face. Soon, he'd be on their way to the Cayman's, not twenty minutes away from here. Then they'd go over to Venezuela and live like kings.

He glanced back at the house and idly wondered if he could bring the sensuous Rebecca. He'd grown fond of her over the last few months. The brat was another story and Dan rather hoped he suffered. But Rebecca was impressive, especially in bed.

--

Ziva felt the same wave of foreboding she had felt so many different times. Not with the innocent like Tali or even Aman. But always with those who took the risks. Sometimes they made it, sometimes not.

When she had served in the army, she started dating a boy with the wildest hair she'd ever seen and eyes that never stopped twinkling with joy. Omri grew up surfing in Eilat and they shared a passion for languages, often starting conversations in one, only to end in another. He was chosen to go and contain the Intifada, along with the rest of the men in his regiment.

Ziva felt the foreboding than, for the first time. She wanted to go as well, but women were not allowed in combat positions. So she spent what little time she had with Omri, and he wisely said nothing, as he himself was not certain of his fate.

The foreboding grew all that day and Ziva prayed for Omri as she clutched her rifle and made her rounds at the shooting barracks. It was the only time she'd ever been wide in most of her shots, a fact that did not go unnoticed by the other women. Instead of ribbing Ziva as would be general custom, they embraced her quietly, adding their own prayers for not just Omri, but all the boys marching to protect Jerusalem.

Omri came back to her in a coffin. She wept for him, as she had wept for her sister and her childhood best friend, Aman.

Life passed on and she became a part of Mossad. It was there that Ziva fell for Dov. His grin was the biggest of any she had seen and he affectionally called her "_Zivaleh._" He was like a little boy most of the time, and it was a wonder that he and Ari, two very different souls, were best friends. Dov was half Arabic, the only similarity he shared with Ari, only he had a Jewish mother. Ari hadn't liked Dov and Ziva coupling, but tolerated it as he loved his sister and he loved his best friend.

Dov left Ziva with the same pangs of foreboding that Omri did. Father sent him to infiltrate Hamas. Ari should have gone than, but Father felt he wasn't ready, despite the fact that Dov was a year younger. Ari was angry at the lack of trust from his distant father, but he wished his best friend good luck and Ziva rained kisses down on his face, thinking of her tender night with Dov. Hopefully, despite the feeling in her heart, it would not be the last.

But it was. And she was the one who opened the package where Dov's head fell out, along with a letter in a blur of Arabic nonsense. The wave of nausea still fell over her as she tried not to think about the head.

Ari had been sent in after Dov. Ziva begged him not to go, as she was loosing the people she loved most in her life. Ari told her not to be silly, that he would not let anyone discover his loyalties. She let him go, her heart crying out that it was the last time she'd ever see him.

The irony that she would be the one to kill her brother! But he was a monster now, shooting innocent Americans and sometimes she wondered in her sleep. She wondered if Ari tipped them off about Dov. But surely Ari loved Dov. Or was he not Ari anymore by that point?

Jenny of course, she had her fears of. Despite Tony's relaxed tone, she worried about the Director. Tony blamed himself for not being more alert and Ziva's heart only broke a little more, seeing the body of beautiful Jenny, shot, on the ground with a small smile curved on her face. Of course she'd have to die quite spectacularly.

Michael of course, the last of her list, was on her floor, bleeding like a stuck pig. He died with his blood and her tears, as Tony's invasive blue eyes raked over her private mourning. He had his doubts and she was angry. She was confused, disorientated and angry. She felt as if she was Ari and Tony her, all these lifetimes ago.

But that was now another lifetime ago now. Ziva was practically an old woman with all the life she experienced and the friends she lost. Or at least she felt old. Far too old.

Somalia changed her. She was flung down, thinking that she was in the middle of her last hours. The prayers in her heart sang out to God and heaven, begging for just a little more time. Faces flashed through her mind as she yearned to stay. The faces she would never see anymore, even if she did survive.

Gibbs

McGee

Abby

…

Ziva remembered her eyes filling with tears as she struggled to not think about the bright blue eyes that changed to green whenever he was really happy. The warmth of his hugs as the comforting aroma of soap washed over her, sometimes with a dash or two of _Eau de Cologne_. The sarcastic bite to his words and the feeling she felt when they were in the middle of flirting when there was a heavy sensation lifting from below her ribs to right above her heart, as if she were filled with champagne, the tingly bubbles that rose even higher made her head feel light.

And never had she felt lighter then the moment when Tony's face, scarred and bruised, alighted out in her joy. And lighter yet when his blazing eyes looked straight into hers.

"_Couldn't live without you, I guess_"

She sat in the van right now, staring at the video feed of Tony's earring camera. In her ear, she heard his steady breathing. Though she couldn't speak to him, she hoped he knew that she too, could not live without him.

Hesitating, she pulled out her phone and read the latest text from Booth. Her heart tightening, she whispered a prayer to keep Parker safe. Sometimes prayer helped her when nothing else could be done but to wait. It was a way to pass the hours.

--

Sweets stirred his coffee idly, watching Booth's tension flex as the FBI agent crossed and uncrossed his arms, staring at the plasma. They were getting video feed of Tony's earring camera, though it wasn't a live version, but 20 seconds delayed (due to stream processing and other techno mumbo jumbo that McGee had spouted off).

He was worried that the adrenaline rush Booth was currently under would do some major damage. Not only was he at risk of losing his son, but his partner as well. The emotions going through his brain must be-

"Sweets, stop thinking about me and _focus_." Booth growled, eyes sharp and never leaving the screen. Sweets nodded, feeling a bit chastened. He looked at the feed, which was still fuzzy. The bar was dimly lit, but full of bikers and other well-muscled men.

"Any audio?" Booth asked

"Cuing audio…now." McGee clacked away at a few more keys before his phone rang. He picked up, said something and hung up, "That's Abby. I need to go down, but-" He glanced at Booth who just nodded,

"I'll watch this. The shrink's watching me."

McGee hesitated, remembering his express instructions from Gibbs to not let Booth out of his sight. Sitting back down, he opened his e-mail,

"I'll just send Abby an e-mail." He muttered, knowing better then to disobey a direct order from Gibbs.

--

Parker coughed again, feeling the metal tang of blood on his tongue. He lost three of his baby teeth from the slap. Hopefully the Tooth Fairy would reimburse him. Parker spat out the blood, trying to shrink and make himself as small as possible.

The knife in his back pocket burned in the back of his mind. He needed that knife if he was ever going to get out of here. Pericles' eyes bore into his, the intensity of his cold gaze causing Parker to whimper.

"Now Parker," He purred, "I don't hurt children." He picked up the three bloody teeth, "That was just an accidental slip of the hand." He placed the teeth on the table, "Now." Pericles sat down on an empty chair next to Parker, a cruel smile on his face,

"Your uncle told you stories, didn't he? Good old Uncle Jared,"

Parker tried to keep his face blank. He knew what Pericles wanted and he wasn't gonna let him have it. Uncle Jared didn't either, after all.

_Trust No One_

"He told me lots of stories, sir." Parker had gotten slapped the first time for not calling this man 'Sir.'

"Did any of them have to do with me?" Pericles drawled, patient. He picked up one of the baby teeth, holding it between two fingers, rolling the bloody tooth back and fourth. Parker couldn't help but watch.

Parker shook his head fiercely. They both knew he was lying.

Pulling out a small flask, Pericles tipped it back, drinking some with a satisfaction. He let out a small burp before pouring a bit of the strong alcohol on the tooth in his hand. Then he grabbed a match from his back pocket and lit it with the table. He let the first tooth on fire, idly fanning the fire back and forth before dousing it with a water bottle he seemed to have pulled out of nowhere.

Parker's throat ached as he saw the water. He needed some water. Pericles put the bottle on the very edge of the table, almost a foot away from Parker's growling stomach. Parker coughed again, a spray of blood hitting the water and he sniffled.

"He told me some stories, sir." Parker whispered, his face pale.

"About me?" Pericles asked quietly, eyes sharp

"Yes sir." Parker nodded, feeling sick for saying that. Sir was a title that belonged only to those men with honor. Not a man like him who stole little boys for their own greed.

"Ah." Pericles nodded, "You see, I don't have the stomach to torture you into finding the information that I want. So I'm going to torture your mother instead. Unless of course, you tell me where they are."

"You don't have my mother, sir." Parker said quietly, eyes sharp.

Pericles chuckled, and got up, "I do, actually. I'll let you think about your choices here for a few hours. I will be back and if you've been a good boy, I'll give you some bread. Are you thirsty, kid?"

Parker nodded, cheeks burning.

Pericles picked up the water bottle, tucking it back into the one of the pockets in his cargos. He grabbed the flask, and poured some down Parker's throat. Parker choked, coughing and spitting the hateful stuff.

"This stuff is quality whiskey, kid." Pericles informed him, "Be grateful for my kindness." He tucked the flask back into his pocket and walked out, closing the door with him. Parker only coughed again and again, the alcohol burning his throat and he felt dizzy and weak.

The knife still burned in his pocket and Parker knew he had to take this chance before anything really did happen to his mother. But nobody knew where she was. Not even work. Only he and Daddy knew where she really was, because stupid Booger Dan wanted to surprise her.

Parker needed to get out of here before he told anyone about the other kids. And by anyone, that meant Pericles. He needed Daddy now, in order to stop the bad man and help these kids that Uncle Jared died for.

--

Tony surveyed the bar, feeling out of place, though he looked in place. He'd gotten accosted with not just the earring and short hair, but a fake Nazi tat. He felt unlike himself with the changes in his physical appearance. But he wasn't really Tony DiNozzo. He was supposed to be T-Dizz, new on the East Coast circuit but with good connections.

The name was stupid. Tony wished that he could've picked his own. But it was CIA's operative and they were also responsible for the damage done to his beautiful hair.

Tony came up to the bar, not having seen Pericles yet. But plenty of people greeted him warily, only dropping their guard when they realized that he knew his stuff (or at least made it sound like he did as Chalmers mic-ed him the appropriate information). Tony didn't dare ask straight-out where Mat Perry was.

One, according to Chalmers, was a confirmed member of Axle. However, he wasn't too high up on the clearance chart. But he could lead Tony to the right people.

Treating Ramones to a free beer, Tony managed to meet Chicky, who greeted him with the warmth of the happy drunk. He managed to divulge from a few side conversations that Perry hadn't been on the Axle circuit in a while.

"Who's this Perry fellow you're all mooning over?" Tony called out, curious

Chicky smiled, wan, "Mattie? He's a good friend. We just thought we'd see him by now, is all. Guess he's found a real pretty treasure this time." Chicky laughed and clinked beers with Ramones, "We call him Pericles though. He likes how tough it makes him sound."

Tony nodded, "I'm headed down south from here. Maybe I'll run into him. He got any friends?"

Chicky shook his head, "Nah. He's been a part of our family since before I met him. Ramones too. We reckon he's been biking since he wasn't much more then eleven or twelve. A real natural. Far as I know, he never even liked to take a vacation if it meant leaving our family for a few days."

"Anyone from the family down South then?" Tony suggested

Chicky shrugged, "Nah. But he'll come back."

"Hopefully with Damascus. Guy still owes me money from that last poker game." Ramones added

"Damascus?" Tony asked

Ramones nodded, "He didn't much appreciate Danny-Boy, but he'll tolerate Damascus." He grinned slowly, "We'd hafta change your name, T-Dizz, if you joined up."

"Ah." Tony nodded, "That's cool. But I'd like to keep thinking about it, if it's all the same to you guys right now."

A bell blared off somewhere, and the two men stood up suddenly. Chicky looked apologetically at Tony,

"Sorry, man, we've got an emergency meeting with big Boss man."

Tony nods, "Nah, that's cool. I'm just going to finish this off." He lifted his mug and they clinked it with him, chugging down what they could before sprinting off to join the boss in this meeting.

"Tony." The CIA mole in his ear buzzed, "Perry's going to find you now, while everyone's in this meeting."

"Alright," Tony muttered, taking a sip.

"Fuck this up and you'll be sorry." Chalmers added in a quiet snarl and Tony rolled his eyes at the threat. He was Tony DiNozzo and he didn't get bullied by anyone, especially CIA.

OXOXOXOXOXO

Russ sat down by his sister's bed, clearing his throat as he tried not to take in his sister. She looked normal, actually, except for the oxygen line and the needles in her arm. Her face had a few stitches in it and a large bandage for the head wound. He swallowed a hard lump, trying not to think the worst. Temperance would get past this. She _had _to.

"Hey son," Max greeted him quietly, holding one of Tempe's hands, "How's Amy and the girls?"

Russ sighed, "They're okay. Amy's told me to stay as long as I need to, but…" He shook his head, "It's not right to see her like this."

Max smiled sadly, "Yeah. You were always the one ending up in the hospitals if I remember correctly." He looked at Brennan fondly, "Tempe usually has a lucky star looking over her."

"I guess that's why you felt so comfortable leaving me with her." Russ stated, though not in a rude way. Just as fact. Max glanced up at him and sighed,

"Let's not get into this Rusty."

Russ nodded, knowing what he meant, "How's Tempe?"

Max smiled sadly, "She'll get there. She's just taking her time,"

Russ nodded, not letting the tears come to his eyes. He blinked them away, trying to be strong. He wasn't sure for who he was being strong-for Tempe? Dad? Amy?-but he felt better that way.

"I think she needs him." Max said softly, "She responds to his name."

Russ looked up at Max, knowing who Max meant. "Really?"

Max nodded slowly, "She wants Booth."

As if listening, Tempe's nose twitched and Russ found himself standing over her, saying, "Tempe, Tempe?"

"Rusty, don't." Max commanded, eyes sharp, "I don't want her getting into another heart attack." He sighed, "Just find him. He's supposed to be at NCIS Navy Yard from what I understand."

Russ nodded, squeezing his sister tightly, "I'll get him for you then, Tempe. I'll get him," He muttered quietly as he left, charged with the power of a newfound mission.

OXOXOXOXOXOX

"Ah ha!" Abby jumped up with glee, spinning around in her chair. Hodgins, who was still bent over the boot, looked over at her with irritation. Wendell followed his gaze, chuckling. She beamed at the two boys, crossing her arms,

"Gibbs should be here an-" She broke off as her phone rang. Grabbing it, she grinned,

"Gibbs, you're late by three seconds."

"Actually, Gibbs is waiting Tony on the feed." Ziva corrected Abby with a small smile. "He asked me to call and hear what you've got."

"How's Tony?" Abby asked, distracted by her worry of Tony

Ziva paused to look at the ground, not wanting to think of it herself, "He's meeting with Perry right now. And you?"

"Oh, I have these _guests_ and they're just everywhere." Abby sighed, shaking her head, "But I did find something unexpected." She grinned cheerfully at the two curious boys, smugly rubbing her nose in it.

"Yes?" Ziva asked, alert

"One perfect fingerprint off the motorcycle. It matches Frankie Hanford,"

She turned back to the computer where a brute of a man scowling in his mug shot shone back at her. It didn't diminish Abby's sunny demeanor. The two boys rushed over to see, astonished.

Ziva drew a breath, "Are you sure?"

"Yeah, I ran it twice and hey! Hodgins is running it again," Abby said in her indignant voice. Hodgins paid her no attention despite her cry.

"I will let Gibbs know." Ziva said quietly

"I'll tell Booth." Hodgins declared, eyes sharp. "Warn him that Hanford's in country. Damn,"

"Did Booth…?" Wendell asked, trailing off in his thoughts

Hodgins shook his head, "No, another FBI agent did. I bet Hanford just did this as a favor to his old buddies. Most of these Axles have been in jail, so I'm not surprised if Hanford's trading information with them,"

"Matches his M.O." Ziva told Abby after quietly going through all she knew about Hanford, one of the most wanted men on the NCIS list, "He's never left a bullet behind on any of his kills."

"Nope." Abby huffed, "You tell Gibbs and I'm going to figure out how to connect the boots to Hanford, hopefully place him at the crime scene."

Ziva hung up, shaking her head. This had just gotten more dangerous. She trudged inside the van, already knowing what Gibbs' reaction would be to the fact that a hired killer shot Jared. Perhaps this guy was even with Parker right now

Her phone rang again and she picked up, worried.

"Ziva David."

"Shalom Ziva," A familiar Israeli accent washed over her and Ziva smiled sadly,

"Hi Dodi Gideon. _Ma slo-_"

"Don't bother," Her uncle cut over her voice, "I need to practice English. Your mother calls me. She worry about you,"

Ziva sighed, "I'm fine. You know that my mother worries too much." She smiled despite herself, delighted to hear her uncle's broken English. He was her favorite uncle who always had a place on his lap for her and kind words for her ears.

"Yes, but she tell me you stay in America for Year new-ah, new year, no?"

"New Year," Ziva agreed with him. Uncle Gideon started learning English a few years ago when his little girl got married to an Englishman. In return, his new son-in-law was learning Hebrew. They had humorous conversations full of half-English, half-Hebrew. It never failed to make Ziva laugh when she heard them talking to each other.

"You have not seen Rahel's baby yet," He reminded her lightly, "Natan is now three months."

"I've seen pictures." Ziva countered lightly, feeling bad. She had wanted to go home and see her cousins, the new babies, the children, her mother, Uncle Gideon, _Zayde_, and even her father. But she needed to be an American more.

"Uncle," She scratched her ear, "I need to stay here or else I cannot be an American citizen."

He was silent and she sighed,

"You will be American forever?" He asked, quiet, and Ziva understood the true nature of his call. He, like her father, did not want her turning into an American. It was understandable, but Ziva's heart still tore at the idea.

"I'm working on a case. I'll call you back tomorrow. Send the family my love,"

"And I send you mine," He added kindly before they both hung up.

Ziva shook her head and this time, tucked her phone into her pocket. She couldn't think about her family right now. They were too frustrating.

XOXOXOXOXOXOX

"Booth!" Russ walked into NCIS, after being buzzed up by McGee at the front. He was relieved to see Booth in front of the screen.

"How is she?" He asked, not glancing away from the screen.

"She didn't wake up yet. Dad says that she needs you," Russ explained, shuffling his feet, "C-Could you maybe go to the hospital for a few minutes?"

Booth turned to look at him with an incredulous expression, "My son is missing." He said slowly

"You can wait on news about Parker at the hospital, Booth." Angela said, "Booth, Dr. Saroyan's been keeping me updated. Bren was supposed to wake up hours ago but she won't. The doctors are freaking out. She only responds if someone says your name,"

"That's true." Russ agreed, eyes bright

Booth's face became paler yet, a shade Angela never quite thought possible. He wiped his forehead, taking a breath, "Goddamnit." He growled

"Booth," Russ sighed, "Look, I don't know you. And…" He hesitated, "I know it's selfish to even say right now, but she needs you."

"Parker needs me." Booth spoke, his throat tight

"Booth, you should really try some relaxation breaths." Sweets advised him and quieted with a well pointed glare from both Booth and Russ.

"I know Parker needs you, but there is an entire field of NCIS agents looking out for your son's welfare." Angela spoke up, crossing behind her desk, "And you're going to blow up if you stay here. At least go to the hospital. They'll take Parker there anyway for a check-up once he's recovered."

"You aren't abandoning him." Russ told Booth quietly, as if understanding the clash that the older man was struggling with, "You're just waiting somewhere else."

Booth shook his head, "God. Did you know Parker ran away from his mother's boyfriend once? He uh, found a policeman and told him that he was lost and his daddy was FBI Agent Seeley Booth."

"Why was he running?" Sweets asked, curious as everyone chuckled

Booth shook his head, "Parker didn't like the guy. I can't remember why, it was three boyfriends ago. Parker doesn't much like this current one either, but Rebecca's crazy for him. They're in the Bahamas and I haven't gotten ahold of her yet."

"You haven't told Parker's mother yet?" Angela asked

"I've left messages and texts. Even got someone from the hotel to send a message to her room, but she hasn't called back or anything." Booth shook his head.

"That doesn't _sound_ normal. Wouldn't she call every night to say goodnight to Parker?"

Booth paused, "She did the first night…I think." He shook his head, "It's all a blur. She's probably shacked up in the cabin with Dan."

"It's been three days now, Booth. Is it normal for Rebecca to wait three days to tell her son goodnight? Especially if it's something she usually does every night he's with you." She glanced at him, "Parker told me about the ritual last time we hung out."

Booth paused with a frown, "You're right. Rebecca once dragged me out to the middle of nowhere to use a pay-phone because her phone wasn't picking up a signal for Parker."

"Where are they staying in the Bahamas?" McGee asked, frowning, "I'll start looking for her."

"I have that information." Angela cut over Booth, "I'll help him with that. You go to the hospital with Russ and help Bren wake up." She handed Booth his jacket and he paused but followed Russ in the end, darting one last look toward the television screen where Tony was talking to the main suspect: Mat Perry.

XOXOXOXOXOXOX

"T-Dizz, huh?" Perry leaned over, scratching his jaw, "Never heard that name before."

"I'm new to this side of the US." Tony smiled casually back at him, "Heard that you're an old hand around here though,"

"Something like that." He nodded and grasped his mug, "What's this about. I'm missing a meeting that could be vital." He glanced over to Tony who nodded and cleared his throat,

"Looking for a kid. Seven years old. Dirty blond hair, brown eye-"

"Haven't seen any in a while," Perry cut him off, "This ain't exactly the kind of bar where little boys go if you haven't noticed."

Tony paused, "How'd you know he was a boy?"

Perry glanced back at him, "Source told me."

"_We did, Agent DiNozzo_." Chalmers grating voice spoke into Tony's mic and he sighed, wishing it'd really been that easy.

"Ah. Well, we've got your pretty face on a camera." Tony kept his smile light, "Care to explain why you were in a children's museum yesterday?"

Perry didn't blink, "A natural history museum? Like hell I was there." He drawled in a loud enough voice before dropping it.

"I was doing some work for Axle. Look, I saw it go down, but I didn't stay. Ran the minute I saw the guy with the knife grab your kid. Some lady nearly knocked me down and went in herself. She got shot, I think."

Tony nodded once, "You ran away?"

"I couldn't risk blowing my cover." He explained shortly, "The wrong people discover who I really am and there's a helluva lot more to lose then the life of one little kid."

"Describe the guy?" He asked lightly

"Tall, cropped brown hair, crooked nose, muscular and packing," Perry said after a beat, "I only caught a glance at him choking up the kid with chloroform before I bolted."

Tony glanced at Perry's blond hair. It was wavy and matted down with sweat and helmet hair. Perry was also tan and a few inches shorter then the guy driving away on the motorcycle at the Georges.

_"Stand down, DiNozzo_." Gibbs' quiet voice crackled out, _"Kidnapper's got a partner."_

"One last thing." Tony leaned forward, "Jared Booth? How reliable was he?"

Perry shrugged, "He could've been decent if he wasn't so fond of drinking. I'm surprised no-one caught onto him since before that fight."

"Oh right." Tony nodded, "You close with Jared?"

Perry shook his head, "Not really, but we were co-workers of a sort, I suppose." He glanced back up at Tony, "Tell the family I extend my condolences."

"Will do." Tony nodded and Perry walked away, a small smirk on his face.

Tony took one last sip of his beer, annoyed that he'd shaved his head for nothing.

_"Follow him_." Gibbs ordered quietly, "_Discreetly, DiNozzo_."

"Yes boss." Tony muttered, searching the bar for Perry, but he was already gone. Not even the video could tell where Perry went after the men's room.

XOXOXOXOXOX

Dan's phone rang again and he picked up, "Damascus here."

"I'd like to see that pretty blond of yours now," Perry told him lightly, an easy note still in his speech, "Got a kid here who might like to see her too."

"Oh yeah. I'd hate to disappoint anyone," Dan said cheerfully, "I'll set it up and send you the video link. It's this whole state of the art private line streaming connection."

"Good. And Damascus?" Perry paused, "Keep her clothed."

"Aw, you take the fun out of it." Dan teased him, before hanging up and tucking his phone away.

Rebecca came over, frowning, "I can't find my phone _anywhere_. It's like the birds have gone and eaten it!"

"No." Dan shook his head, "Birds prefer breadcrumbs."

"Well can I borrow your phone?" Rebecca asked, "Just very quickly. I haven't talked to Parker in two nights and I need to be a mother just for a short five minutes."

Dan thought about this, "You can have it _after_ you let me have my way with you one last time." He gave her his best sultry smile, and topped it off with a hard kiss that left her panting, eyes wide.

"Okay." She laughed, "Once and then I get the phone." She trailed her finger down his chest, "What do you want me to do, O'Great Dan?" She teased, giggling

He smiled and went over to his suitcase to pull out scarves, "Something a bit different. Just shake things up a bit."

Rebecca laughed, "Oh fine. So I suppose I'm your little slave girl?"

"That would be lovely." Dan told her with a grin, "Lie down on the bed for me, Rebecca." He used a harder voice then usual and it made her jump. She laughed nervously, but complied all the same. He kissed her wrists and ankles as he tied her to the bed-frame, admiring her svelte figure.

Once finished, he paused, "Hang on. I just need to get my computer. It's got an attached camera to it and I want to see how well it works."

Rebecca paled, "Dan, no. I don't-"

But he wasn't listening. She struggled against her scarves, but they held tight in double knots. She was stuck…and fully clothed. Rebecca was sure that this was the first time Dan even let her on the bed with clothes on.

"Dan!" She yelled

He came back with the laptop, "Sweetheart, from now on, you can call me Damascus." He pulled out the laptop to her and she saw Parker, with dirt over his face, his eyes weak and dried blood everywhere. Her blood went cold like ice.

"Untie me." She said weakly, unable to take her eyes off of her son. He was peering around for a second before looking straight at the laptop and croaked out,

"Mommy! Mommy!" His voice was shot and she'd never seen him so lifeless.

"Parker!" She screamed back, her heart thumping, "Parker, are you okay?"

"He's just fine." A voice offscreen spoke to her, "But _you_ won't be unless he tells us some information we're just _dying_ to know, aren't we, Damascus?"

"Oh yeah," Dan drawled out.

Parker turned away, his eyes raging, much like Seeley's did. But he flattened down, "I can't tell you."

"Parker, what's going on?" Rebecca asked. She turned and looked into the cold face of Dan. "What's going on?" She demanded more urgently

"Your son knows the location of some treasure that my friend wants to get his hands on." Dan explained, "Pericles won't torture a kid."

It dawned on Rebecca very clearly what they wanted

The phone rang and Dan set down the laptop, Parker looking back at Rebecca with urgency. He wanted to say so much but it was clear that he was too afraid to do that until this unknown torturer left.

"I ne-nee-need water." Parker croaked out, wriggling, "Please."

"Here you go, son. All you had to do was ask." The same accentless voice declared, and a hand appeared holding a bottle of water and tipped it over Parker's face. Parker lapped at the water, thirsty and Rebecca's heart twisted, seeing how desperate he was.

"Shut up!" Dan yelled at her, slapping her soundly. Rebecca had been screaming Parker's name apparently. Her head cracked as she banged it against the headboard. She could hear him calling her as she tried to return to consciousness. There was a dizziness in her head and she struggled to keep one of her eyes open. It had made contact with Dan's fist.

"No, no, that was just a bird." Dan answered into the phone, "No, no, you don't need to come here and check on us." His face clouded, "Well if you're sure. Yeah no, she's here right now…Showering. Come down and you can wait for her…Okay."

He hung up and closed up the laptop, "Police is coming down to free you, Rebecca." He kissed her on the bruised eye, "You're great in the bed, but I think we'll have to call it quits." Tucking the laptop inside his suitcase, he walked off and she found herself alone and screaming. Screaming over and over for Parker, for Seeley, for anyone to come and help her.

Then she fell into the blackness, Parker's image still tattooed in her mind.

XOXOXOXOXOXOX

Booth walked into the hospital, agitated. His agitation only seemed to increase as he walked into Bone's room. She was all taped up and bandaged everywhere. The one around her head was most noticeable and he had to stop himself from leaving. Running away and pretending that his life was just a sick joke. A bad dream.

Max stood up, soberly. He nodded at Booth, "Glad you showed. I'll wait outside with Rusty here while you pay your visit. She's been asking for you."

"I've heard." Booth said quietly. He walked over and took a seat, squeezing Brennan's hand,

"Temperance…Bones," He whispered softly. She squeezed back. Lightly at first and then tighter and tighter.

"I'm here. I'm here," Booth said weakly, tears falling down his face, "Bones, I'm here."

Her eyes fluttered open, the brilliant blues focusing on him. She tried to speak, but suddenly began to choke on the breathing tube. A nurse came in, quickly removing it and bustling around, checking Brennan's stats. They were delighted that she'd woken up and Booth stared into the face of the scarred woman who he not only considered the love of his life, but his best friend.

"Parker?" She looked at him

"He's missing, but NCIS is confident they'll get him." Booth explained lightly, "How are you?"

Bones closed her eyes, "I lost him. I-my fault."

"No, no," Booth shook his head, squeezing her hand. The tears were still falling, "No, Bones. It was mine. I should've-"

"No." Bones repeated firmly. She gazed at him, "Two took him."

"Can you describe them?" Booth asked, shaking slightly

"Water." She whispered and he grabbed her water. He spilled on his suit and didn't care. The coldness of the water had no effect on him as his head was focused on only two things: the fate of his son and the voice of the woman he loved.

"Angela?" She asked with a weak smile

"I'll get her. Thank you, Bones…for pulling through." Booth squeezed her again, "God, I needed you so badly."

"I'm always here." She told him, the usual nonplussed look in her eyes. Booth laughed and looked at her again,

"This is probably the worst timing known to man, but if anything happens…I want you to know that I love you."

"Me too," She said weakly, "I know that."

"No, no." Booth shook his head, "Bren, I'm majorly, crazy, over-the-top, puppy dog in love with you. Have been for a while," He paused, "Don't say anything. Just think about it. I have to go pick up Angela and I know your dad and brother want to see you."

She only looked at him and he had no idea what was going through her mind. But it was right. He felt _right_ telling her that, at least.

Walking out, he pulled out his keys and as Russ and Max went to go greet Brennan on being back in the land of the living, Camille approached him.

"Booth, Angela just called. She says that Rebecca was found tied up to a bed and concussed. She's in a Bahamas hospital and Gibbs just dispatched two agents to figure out how it ties into Parker." Camille explained

"Who?" Booth demanded

"Agents Jardin and McGee. He vouched for them," Camille explained, "Agent David is coming here to protect you."

"I'm going back." Booth corrected, "I need to get Angela. Bones says there were two guys with Parker."

"Agent Gibbs says he's going to mark you PNG." Camille warned him, "That means Security's not letting you go anywhere. I'll call and ask Agent David to bring Angela."

Booth was not in the mood to argue anymore. He just couldn't take it. He just wanted his son back and Brennan not hooked up to all these wires in the bed anymore. But instead of throwing a fit, he sat down and finished his crying jag.

Camille's heels click-clacked away and he was grateful for the fact that she knew he preferred to cry alone.

XOXOXOXOXO

I'm so sorry for disappearing for WEEKS. I did not mean to do that. Well, I did. But not like that. I just had so much to do and school was building up. Finally I caught NCIS again yesterday and I was like, "God I miss this story" and then I realized that there's probably bunches (I hope anyway) of people who _also_ miss this story and I felt bad for these people.

So enjoy! I'm so hyped up about Tiva now since I saw the promos for next week's episode!

Read and review! I'll really really really try harder to be more timely, but the good news is that it can't be two or three more chapters before it's over! I hope.


	5. Chapter 5

For the last time on this fanfiction story:

**Disclaimer: I disclaim owning anything remotely cool like NCIS or Bones. That belongs to Hart Hanson and Don Bellisario. And hopefully they will use their owning powers to bring about a crossover of Bones and NCIS in REAL life, although that would never happen because Bones is produced by Fox and NCIS by CBS...Unfortunately.**

**Yes, this is indeed, the last chapter. I know! I'm so sad too. But I do have an NCIS fanfic in the works. I put up the first chapter already to see if anyone would like it and was amazed to get nineteen reviews. But I wanted to put you guys out of your misery first and see the end of Finding The Words. It isn't well edited and it might not answer all your questions, but it is truly the end of my journey into the world of Bones and NCIS, clocking in at 96 pages.**

**NOTE: I made a few edited changes after noticing that some people were really confused. It should be easier to figure out who's with who now. And I added a discription thing at the end if you're still confused.**

XOXOXOXOXO

"Much prettier than Iraq." Nikki commented as they descended off the airplane with a small grin. A pretty woman came over and put a lei over her and McGee, saying something in gibberish. Nikki removed her at once, returning it to the woman with an explanation about the dangers of pollen.

McGee nodded and accepted the lei awkwardly, "Right, so let's just get that taxi and go over to the hospital." He peeled his jacket off, suddenly very aware of how warm and balmy the Caribbean weather was.

"Okay." Nikki said, wistfully looking toward a stray beach as she put her mask on. McGee looked at her in surprise, but didn't ask. Everyone in the office knew she had a thing about germs by now after all.

XOXOXOXOXOX

Tony was stuck inside the bar, in the middle of pool with Ramones and Perry. He'd scaled the whole damn thing earlier that afternoon and couldn't find anything out of sorts. And the chatter he picked up while there was inconspicuous, but Tony supposed that was because Axle wouldn't start talking about arms distribution and drugs in front of a complete outsider.

"T-Dizz, it's your turn." Chicky called out, handing him a beer, "You fellas check out that pretty brunette in the corner?" He added casually, taking a swig of his beer. He was met with appreciative whistles and Tony glanced to look at her himself. She was laughing and flirting with her date, a college boy by the looks of his polo shirt. They both looked just barely legal.

A few raunchy jokes ensued and Tony kept in character, though he felt disgusted to be with men eying such a little girl. She didn't look much more than seventeen.

"T-Dizz, you want to be one of us?" Chicky asked quietly, leaning against the pool table. And Chicky knew what he meant.

"It's a tempting offer,"

"_Take it, DiNozzo."_ Gibbs commanded quietly over the phone

"But uh," Tony grinned, "Why not?"

Perry leaned over to Tony, eyes narrowed. He after all, knew something about Tony that the others did not. However he also knew that the CIA wanted Tony in. And Tony wanted to know who Perry's partner was.

Perry's phone rang from its place on the table. Tony noticed that the screen read _Frankie H_ and tossed it over to Perry,

"Frankie H is calling for you." Tony said, drawing his cue. Perry took the cell and left to go outside of the bar."

"_Follow him, Tony_." Chalmers commanded and Tony wished he could smack the CIA guy for stating the obvious so much.

He made his excuses to Chicky, who was still admiring the teenager who was getting tipsy with her boyfriend.

Perry wasn't talking when Tony came outside, a cigarette in his hand. He didn't want to smoke it though, because his lungs were already in bad shape, so he hoped he wouldn't have to.

Perry hung up and glanced over at Tony, "Look, if you screw up this investigation, I will personally kick your ass. We're _this_ close to arresting five of the top guys here."

"Why are you in contact with a known hit-man?" Tony asked casually, "In fact, our evidence points to him as the killer."

"Hanford does work with Axle. I just happen to connect him to different members who are requesting his expertise." Perry drew a breath, "One of these guys requested him one day and told him to eliminate Jared Booth. I can't tell you who, because I don't know names."

Tony nods, "You ask him anything about the boy?"

Perry shook his head, "We don't exactly stand around and discuss the weather, let alone missing boys, Agent. They're par for his kind of course."

"Who wanted Hanford this time?"

Perry drew a breath, "While I will report that information to my superiors at CIA, that information is classified to you, Agent."

He nodded briefly before walking back in. Tony scowled and kicked the rocks, annoyed at not having found a lead yet. He came back in, much more contained. Chicky was drunker than before, singing something on top of a table while Ramones provided backup.

He glanced over to the corner and saw that the two teenagers left. That was good, as Tony didn't like them around such dangerous people.

XOXOXOXOXOXOX

Frankie Hanford shoots Rebecca full of ammonia between the toes. He casually walks out, still wearing his deceptive nurse smocks and throws the needle away in a random bin. Someone will realize what happened but not until Autopsy. By then, he'll be on another job.

XOXOXOXOXOXOX

"She just suddenly took a turn for the worst." The doctor explained, shaking his head, "At first, Rebecca was very stable, but around fifteen minutes ago, she woke up screaming and incoherent. We put her out with a sedative, but her brain activity is very jumbled right now, her heartbeat is just barely operating and she is not fit for air-travel.

McGee nodded, "She came in with a coma, right?"

The doctor nodded, "We did tox screen, CAT Scan, blood tests, and that all turned out fine. However, this reaction is highly unusual. We've had to move her into the ICU and she is not fit fo-" He broke off when a nurse hurried his way, saying something McGee didn't understand.

The doctor's face fell and he muttered something that sounded like a bad word. Glancing at the two Americans, he smiled sadly,

"I am sorry to report that your friend just died. I'll arrange to have her remains airlifted to Washington."

"NCIS Navy Yard," McGee says, "Agent Jardine will give you the address."

McGee groans, pulling out his phone while Nikki followed the doctor to take care of paperwork. He knew Gibbs would not like this.

XOXOXOXOXOXOX

Parker can barely open his eyes. He is splashed awake and Pericles is in front of him, with a bowl of grits. He starts feeding Parker as if the eight year old is a baby. Parker swallows, too exhausted.

The small knife burns against his back pocket like a talisman.

XOXOXOXOXOXOX

Gibbs slams down a newspaper in front of Chalmers and Kort. They glance at it and freeze.

"What's this?" Kort asks, though he knows full well what it is.

"Missing girl. Sixteen years old with dark brown hair and green eyes." Gibbs drawls, "Doesn't that sound familiar to you fellows?"

"The picture looks similar." Chalmers ventured, "But that's circumstantial."

"They have that girl, Chalmers." Kort growled, rubbing his head, "They do, after all, run one of the biggest child prostitute rings in the country. However, they aren't in the practice of kidnapping boys."

"You going to bust them for this?" Gibbs asked

"Can't. Technically there's no evidence except for Tony's ear-feed." Kort explained lightly, "But the boyfriend will lead the police here and that in turn will become turned over to the FBI, because Axles is spread out past state lines."

Gibbs phone rings and he picks up to talk to McGee. Fifteen seconds later, he chucks the phone against a fence, his anger boiling.

XOXOXOXOXOX

Booth is asleep next to Ziva while she flicks through _Sniper Monthly_, thinking about Tony.

"Booth?" Camille shakes him and he half jumps, and looks at her. She chuckles,

"Hey, Dr. Brennan is asking for you again."

Booth smiles crookedly and glances at Ziva who smiles,

"I will watch you from here, Seeley." She pats him on the knee and he stands up, and glances again about Camille, a half-hopeful expression on his face.

She shakes her head

"However, the man that Angela sketched has come back positive as Frankie Hanford, the hit-man." Camille explains, "Abby and Hodgins have confirmed that he killed your brother."

Booth nods, blinking, "He's on the extended FBI Most Wanted List."

"Actually, he just hit number ten." Camille corrects him, awkward, "Interpol reports that he landed in the Bahamas and flew out before they could catch him."

Booth glances back, "Rebecca-"

"I'm so sorry, Seeley." Camille whispered, her eyes big, "She's being sent to Navy Yard for Autopsy."

Booth sits back down, feeling like he can't walk. His head swims as he thinks about his son. Now Rebecca is gone without his having realized it. He won't let that happen to Parker. Not Parker.

A cool hand reaches over and embraces him. Ziva whispers loving words in Hebrew that comfort him in an odd way. He struggles to keep his composure, but instead breaks down again, despite the fact that he already cried last night.

Ziva sings quietly to him, just as her mother did to her whenever something bad happened in her life.

"_Hi'yom, Hi'yom, ha'zeh mamash"_ She sang quietly, thinking of how her mother would always have the radio on and sing along with every single song that came up. She and Tali loved to dance and sing along. Especially to this one: Today, Today.

It spoke of today being a day where, perhaps, good things might happen. She knew that Booth didn't understand it, but the Hebrew would have a soothing effect on him. It always did on her, after all.

It seemed to work on Booth. His crying ebbed as she continued to quietly sing to him, embracing him by the side.

Leaning away, she handed him a tissue and a sad smile,

He nods at her.

"Thank you," Wiping away at his tears, he stands up and walks over to where Bones is. Ziva smiles and watches him leave, thinking about her today, Tony.

XOXOXOXOXOX

"Ready to tell me what I know, Parker?" Pericles asked, leaning over to Parker, eyes sharp

"Is my mother safe?" Parker croaked, his eyes wincing at the sudden infiltration of light. He felt like a giant cloud was over his head and every part of his body was beaten down with weights.

"She wants you to tell me what I want to know, so that she can see you again." Pericles explains, "You saw how worried she was, Parker."

Parker took a few shallow breaths, his head swimming. Pericles shoved another spoonful of grits into Parker's mouth and the little boy manfully takes it.

He feels his chains being released and looks at Pericles in surprise. Pericles seems satisfied with how weak Parker feels.

"Alright son. I'm going to lock the door on my way out. Eat the rest of this stuff up and I'm coming back to ask you where my property is."

"They aren't property." Parker shoots back and Pericles clenches his fist. However, he is right. Parker can barely get the strength to lift his arm, let alone run out of their room. That and the light is too bright for his eyes. It gives him a headache.

Pericles slams the door behind him and Parker hears the lock click.

Without wasting a second, he tries to force himself to eat in his weary state, needing strength.

He has a plan now.

XOXOXOXOXOX

"Hanford boarded a flight to Venezuela," Yossi Menachem informs his old friend, "I have an old contact in the area if you're looking to take care of him quietly."

Ziva took a breath, "What kind of contact?"

"Usually spends his time tracking Nazis. But he wouldn't mind this type of favor." Yossi promises, "Just give me the word, Ziva."

"I'll have to talk to a few people before I can give you the go-ahead for that, Yossi." Ziva explains quietly, "But I know my boss will want to interrogate Hanford."

After some silence, where Ziva was put on hold, Yossi came back.

"You can expect Hanford at Navy Yard sometime tomorrow."

Ziva smiles, amazed that Yossi was able to deliver, "_Matzel tov, Yossi_."

He laughs at her good cheer, amused, "Are you back in town for Rosh Hashanah? Your mother's invited my family to dinner."

"No, I have to stay in DC, because I can't leave American soil until my citizenship has been processed," Ziva explained lightly, "But send my love to Sarai and your mother in law."

"Will do. Shalom Ziva," Yossi tells her kindly and Ziva hangs up, shaking her head.

Ziva turns to look at Booth, who is holding Brennan's hand and smiling with her about something. They seem almost happy in spite of the circumstances. She wonders how Tony would react if that was her in the hospital bed.

XOXOXOXOXOXOX

"T, you need a place for the night?" Chicky asks, "We're all crashing at a Motel 6 down the road."

"Really?" Tony asks, inwardly wincing at the idea, "I'll tag along. You guys are pretty fun, after all," He lied.

"No problem. Just don't tell Perry. He's kinda hard-assed around new people, but you seem like a nice guy, T."

"Oh, I like to think I am." Tony said, smiling as his ears perked at this new information. Was it possible that Parker was not here, but at a Motel 6 that not even the CIA knew.

Because if they did, he'd be hearing Chalmers demanding that he'd stand down and not interfere. At least Tony thought he would hear that.

XOXOXOXOXOXOX

"Hey," A dark haired man stopped McGee, who nearly jumped. He reached for his badge, but the guy pulled out his own: British SAS.

McGee relaxes, "Agent Timothy McGee, NCIS."

"Good, I have the right guy." He nods coolly, "I've got a few names, but you don't need to know any of them. The official story is that you got a lucky break and caught your man while waiting for your flight to Navy Yard."

"Excuse me?" McGee asked, confused

He jerks his head to where a burly guy in plastic handcuffs is sitting with a pissed off look on his face.

"Frankie Hanford. He's ready to go home and own up to all these nasty crimes of his." The man explains in his accentless voice.

McGee is astonished for a few seconds before staring at the guy again.

"How-"

He chuckles, "Tell Ziva that I hope this repays my debt to her. If not, I happily remain in it." He nods and walks away, casually whistling as McGee tries to work it out. Failing, he calls Ziva.

She just seems surprised and explains that she does not know who that man is, even after McGee gives a description.

But the handcuffed man is indeed Frankie Hanford. Gibbs is happy to hear that, at the very least.

XOXOXOXOXOXOX

Perry lies on the floor, dead.

Parker pants, his energy dwindling. He tucks his bloody knife back into his pocket as he inches away from Perry.

He killed the bad man.

He killed a man.

He killed.

He had to. Otherwise, that man would've gotten it out of him and hurt the girls that Jared saved.

Crouching down in the corner, he whispers the psalms he vaguely remembers from church. And there aren't that many. So after that, he just prays for forgiveness as he huddles in his corner.

And after that, he prays for his mother and his father.

The door is wide open and anyone can see that Mat Perry is dead, bleeding from multiple stab wounds in the abdomen and the heart. Just barely discernable is the shape of a little boy in the darkest corner of the room.

Parker hopes that someone will come for him now.

XOXOXOXOXOXOX

Dan calls Perry again, getting worried.

Frankie was just caught by some authority types, but they didn't pay much attention to Dan. Instead, Dan fled away and began trying to contact Perry. No such luck.

Finally someone picks up. Chicky.

"Danny-man, where are you?" Chicky greets him, his greeting slow and kind, as usual Chicky.

"Just looking for Pericles." Dan says casually, "You know where the guy is?"

"Haven't seen him in a while, but we just picked up a cute little thing. You'd appreciate her, Danny."

"I'm sure." Dan says faintly, worried about Perry. Perry would've called if the kid told him where the girls were.

Unless Perry's trying to screw him over and keep all the money for himself. Feeling a surge of alarm at that, he hangs up on Chicky and begins making arrangements to go back to America. No way in hell was Perry getting all the cash.

_No honor among thieves_

XOXOXOXOXOX

McGee watches Gibbs with amazement as he gets Hanford to confess to the murder of Jared and Rebecca (he'd actually gotten confused and thought they meant Rebecca at first. However, Gibbs broke him, not letting Hanford see how angry he was becoming).

However, Gibbs can't break him on Parker's location. Hanford truly doesn't know, but claims that Perry has the kid after they went their separate ways from the museum.

Hanford hasn't had any further contact with Perry or anyone else, except for Dan "Damascus" Fremont. He was meeting with Damascus when he got rerouted to Navy Yard.

Perry's location was still unknown. Even his handlers cannot find him.

XOXOXOXOXOX

"I'm scared, Bones." Booth admitted, lying in the bed with Brennan. They were holding hands and she had her head resting on his shoulder. He was strangely comforted by her nearness.

"Me too." She admitted, "How's your faith?"

They were quiet after that, just staring up at the ceiling. Neither could say anything nor did they have anything to say. Rather, they lay on the bed, thinking about Parker.

XOXOXOXOXOX

"Wonder where Perry is." Chicky commented, frowning. "He never misses this."

"What is this exactly?" Tony asked, taking another sip of his beer. He hadn't drunk so much as in the last two days since his frat days.

"Debauched fun," Chicky explains cheerfully, "You know that girl from last night?"

Tony's blood went cold. Keeping his voice level, he spoke casually: "I remember her."

"Perry picked her up. She's going to be a nice one for selling." Chicky said cheerfully

Tony stared at Chicky, "Oh yeah? You guys deal a lot with these girls?"

Chicky shrugged, "Our group dabbles in all sorts. Mostly guns and girls these days though,"

His eyes glint and Tony restrains the urge to punch him. Instead, he grins again,

"She here?" He asks, knowing that Gibbs will raid the place if Chicky answers in the positive.

"Nah." Chicky shook his head, "We stash our wares somewhere else, T-Dizz. But if you're interested in a rental, Perry shouldn't mind."

"I'm sure he won't." Tony says with gritted teeth, "How much are you offering?"

"_Good job, DiNozzo." _Gibbs mutters, "_I'll take care of the money for you._"

XOXOXOXOXOX

Hanford can't believe he's done something as stupid as confess to two murders. The steely interrogator all but spat out his prison sentence and Hanford is already plotting how to escape.

Damn motorcycle. He should've wiped it down more thoroughly, but Perry called and offered him more money for another job. And he stupidly thought they caught him feeding Rebecca the poison.

Sure enough, the autopsy discovered ammonia in her body, which led to her hyperammonemia and eventual death. Damn diamonds. He got his start working for diamonds and now he was going to rot in prison for want of them.

How the guy had gotten Jared's death out of Hanford, he still quite didn't know. One minute, he had his shoes, then they did. Naturally, they'd test for the fungus and it'd come up positive. Having a rare fungi like that, Hanford knew he was dying in prison.

At least he'd made it on the FBI Most Wanted list. It'd been annoying after a while, only being eleven or twelve.

XOXOXOXOXOXOX

"Ah! Yes!" Abby called out to the lab, Wendell and Hodgins looking at her with curiosity

She grins, "I have a report of Hanford's Damascus entering the United States. Bet you guys he's coming to find Perry and Parker. His flight is set to land at Dulles, and he has his phone on. Tracking him through GPS,"

McGee was already dialing Gibbs, reaching for his keys.

Gibbs yelled at McGee to bring Ziva and follow Dan to Perry. It was getting pretty tense and Abby turned the music up in her lab.

Hodgins let out a laugh himself and hugged Abby. This was _it_, both of them knew. Laughing, the three lost themselves in Abby's acid-metal rock and danced around like crazy. They would surely find Parker.

None refused to even think about him in any other state besides _alive_.

XOXOXOXOXOXOX

Booth saw that McGee was informing Ziva of something. Bones followed his gaze and smiles,

"They have something. You should go, Booth." She squeezes his hand, "I'll be here."

Booth wavers, glancing at her, "You'll be here?"

She nods, "Yes. And I understand the significance of what you told me earlier. But right now, I think Parker needs you more. Remember Donovan Decker?"

Booth nodded, "The kidnapped little boy. Paladin."

"You saved him," Bones beamed, "Just like they're going to save Parker. I know it."

"How?" He asks, gazing at her, suddenly needed solace in her world of complete rationalization. It'd been more than 72 hours at this point and the concept that Parker would end up on an autopsy table was a very real possibility.

Bones gazed at him, "You told me once that you have to have faith. That's what I'm doing for you, Booth. And you know I don't put faith alone in anything…Until now."

Booth nods, shaky, "Thank you, Bones." He wished he could've heard some of her fancy science lingo about how Parker was still alive. But faith was just as good. He could work with that and her faith gave his faith more bolstering. His son was alive. Parker _had_ to be alive.

Booth got up and went over to Ziva and McGee who waver themselves about bringing Booth along. After a few tense seconds, Ziva holds out her hands and Brennan laughs, seeing that she is confiscating Booth's weapon. They leave, Booth turning around to wave at her. She waves back, smiling at him while she tries to keep her faith that Parker is alive.

She can't bear the idea of her Booth mourning not just his brother, but his son as well. It is a concept about as alien as the idea of the Na'avi.

XOXOXOXOXOXOX

Tony follows Chicky to the warehouse, unable to believe how easy this was. Chicky tells him that there's a row of sealed-off rooms somewhere. Tony can take the girl there for some fun. But just for a half hour.

Tony feels sick thinking about people who do that.

Chicky pauses as the phone rings and answers it. He grins, hearing Damascus,

"Hey buddy. No, I'm showing a client the latest girl…I haven't seen Mattie in a while, actually…Yeah, we're kind of worried, but he'll show up…Oh you're in town? Okay, yeah, meet me at the warehouse…Bye," He looks at Tony apologetically, "Sorry, that was one of the members. He sounds kind of weird, so I'm going to check on him while you check her out."

He unlocks the door and Tony hopes it won't be too long before he is led to the prostitutes. At that point, the raid can start. And then Tony has to start combing rooms for Parker.

XOXOXOXOXOXOXOX

Parker hears the noise and screaming. Faint cries of '_FREEZE_' are called out, but Parker only holes himself in his little corner further. They're coming for him.

He killed a man and now he's going to jail for it.

Slamming and cries of protest come. There are some gunshots, but they sound like nails hammered into the wall, followed by deathly moans. Tears escape Parker's bloody face as he contemplates his new fate: Hell.

Footfalls descend closer to him and he doesn't dare look up. Someone opens the door wider than its three-quarters placement and fills the room with light. Parker squeezes his eyes shut in the hopes that whoever comes for him, will not notice him. He is, after all, very small.

Footsteps come closer to him and Parker still, does not open his eyes.

"Hey Parker," A soft voice whispers, "Remember me? I'm Tony DiNozzo, from NCIS? Your daddy sent me here to rescue you."

Parker didn't move.

_Trust No One_

Tony hesitated, unsure of how to handle this. It was clear that Parker had been through hell. But the kid was alive. And killed Perry, from the looks of it. Smart kid.

"Hey, hey, your dad told me about Teddy, okay buddy?" Tony asked quietly, "Teddy." That was Parker's code word after all.

Parker inched his head up and looked in the worried face of Tony DiNozzo. All his hair was gone and he had a strange earring on his ear. But it was a man he could trust. Because his daddy trusted him enough with their word.

Holding his arms limp, he allowed Tony to pick him up and carry him out to his father.

Tony shifted his weight, trying not to dwell on his surroundings. But it was clear that Parker hadn't left the room since the beginning. Clearly he'd been bound to the chair for some time, later killed Perry, and was too afraid to leave. Poor kid was traumatized, but he was _alive_.

Tony descended the stairs with Parker, feeling a large relief being lifted off his shoulders. Girls were being escorted outside as well, and there were different gang members being arrested. Dan was unhappily sitting in a police car, bound. He started, seeing Parker emerge with Tony. Tony didn't pay much attention to him, but instead, walked over to the ambulance where Ziva and Booth were waiting.

Booth had a large gash on his arm, and his eyes were shut as he winced through the pain of the technician bandaging him. Parker caught sight of him and whimpered,

"Is Daddy okay?"

"Yeah, he's fine." Tony said cheerfully, his eyes locked onto Ziva's relieved ones. Booth opened his eyes that next second and his entire face changed when he saw Parker. Tony strode over to them in two seconds, grinning,

"I think this kid's due for a bath,"

Booth just laughed, unable to believe that this was his son who reached over and embraced his father.

"Why are you hurt, Daddy?" Parker demanded, looking at Booth

Booth smiled happily, "Not anymore. You're here and I'm just so happy, buddy." Booth kissed Parker on the top of his head, feeling warmth and goodness pool his head as his worry departed. Parker embraced him tightly and Booth let him, despite the pain of his gunshot.

He was relieved that Ziva was a better shot than Dan, or otherwise Parker would end up spending his life with Pops.

"Good job, Tony." Ziva congratulated Tony with a smile

"All in a day's work, right?" Tony said cheerfully, glancing back at Booth and Parker, "It was worth it."

Ziva nods, "At the end of the day, family is always worth it." She sighs, thinking about her own family in Israel. Tony glances and knows that she's thinking about that topic. He just smiles, and gives her a hug.

"Where's Gibbs?"

XOXOXOXOXOXOX

"Now Booth, if we're really going to do this, I insist that we get rid of these chairs." Angela pointed to the two giant Barcaloungers with a face, "It screams Bachelor."

Booth sighed mournfully, glancing at these chairs, "Bones won't care."

"Exactly. I'm here to facilitate the moving process and make sure that this house doesn't end up looking like a _total_ disaster." Angela explained, "And it will if we keep Ugly and Uglier."

"Their names are Philly and Gretzky."

"They're moving." Angela said with finality and Booth knew he wasn't going to win this argument.

"Well, what are we putting there instead?" Booth asked, scratching his head

"I think a nice coffee table. And a couch. Jack has a great one in his house that I know will be perfect here." Angela mused, "He won't miss it."

Booth chuckled, "Well fine then. But I want the Barcaloungers at his house then. That way I can go visit them."

Angela made a face, but she agreed to the compromise.

"Now, let's look at the yard." She added, "Brennan wants to put in a playhouse for Parker. Swings, slides, all that good stuff."

"You know," Booth glanced at his watch, "I actually have to go pick up Parker from his therapy appointment with Sweets. And then we're meeting Bones to see that movie with The Rock in it. You just make more notes and Bones will follow them to the T."

Angela beamed, "Good." She swept through the house and Booth happily escaped into his new life with his son and his live-in girlfriend.

XOXOXOXOXOXOXOX

Ziva opened her door, yawning. She smiled, seeing Tony on the other side,

"Tony, I was sleeping."

"On New Years?" Tony asked, surprised, "Oh, were you doing it on Israeli time? No matter, we can just celebrate again on American time." He pulls out a bottle of champagne and grins, "Five minutes and thirty seconds to midnight."

Ziva laughs, but opens the door for him, "We do not do that on Rosh Hashanah." She smiles wistfully, "But I videochatted with my family earlier. We wished each other a happy new year and they seem to be getting around to the idea of me being American. Even my father,"

"Really?" Tony pulled down two glasses from her cabinet as she opened the champagne bottle, chuckling,

"Yes. I mean, he still thinks I am soft, but he told me he was happy that I would at least be living a long life here. Such a person of my generation is rare over there,"

"Ah." Tony glances at her, "How do you say Happy New Year in Hebrew?"

"_L'shanah tova_." Ziva supplied for him, smiling, "I will show you the proper customs someday. But I am too tired now."

"Good." Tony grinned, glancing at his watch, "Two minutes, three seconds now."

Ziva laughed, "Tony, we do not mark the midnight on Rosh Hashanah."

"Ah, but we will this year," Tony grinned at her, running a hand through his chopped hair. He still wasn't used to the skull-head trim, but Abby seemed to adore it. So much that McGee got a matching one.

"Okay." Ziva chuckled, smiling at him.

"One minute, twenty seconds." Tony added casually, "You know, Ziva, I forgot the words. How do you say it again?"

"_L'shanah tova_." She laughed, amused by him

"Oh. That doesn't sound right." Tony shook his head, "Those aren't the right words."

"I assure you, Tony, they are." Ziva chuckled, "You may Google it, if you wish."

"I'll have to find them in here." Tony pulled out a Hebrew dictionary. "Only fifty seconds left too."

Ziva chuckled, taking a sip of her champagne. If she was wide awake, she would've been more annoyed, but she was too happy at Tony's presence to care. It was pleasant to have a friend around, especially when she felt lonely and missed her family. Even if it was Tony, a man that she wasn't always sure about labeling as a _friend_.

"Oh, here. I found the words." He grins at her, "And just in time. I've got thirty seconds." He held up his glass, "Happy New Year, Ziva. _L'shanah tova_."

He clinked glasses with Ziva and she looked at him confused,

"But those are the words I told you."

"Yes, but I wanted to add something else," Tony leaned in, "_Ani ohev otach_."

His smile suddenly cracks and his blue eyes look at her face, scared about how he will take this admission of love.

"Would you prefer _Je t'aime?_" He joked, his heart hammering, "Or the simpler, 'I love you'?"

Ziva looked at his watch, "I think we are three seconds overdue for the traditional American kiss, Tony."

"Oh no, it's not just a traditional American kiss on New Years, Ziva." Tony told her, his heart still beating fast, like a hummingbird's wings, "There is a kiss, but that kiss promises…well, a real relationship. Dating, maybe sex, but uh, definitely _commitment_,"

There was a pause between the pair as Ziva digested his explanation. Tony hurried to fill the silence,

"But you know, it doesn-"

"I would like to kiss you then, Tony. Is that still allowed or are we too late?" She asked quietly, glancing at his watch, "We are three seconds past midnight, after all."

Tony smiled broadly and leaned in. She joined him somewhere in the middle, feeling giddy.

XOXOXOXOXOXOXOX

Hodgins walked in and flopped on the bed, groaning. Angela looked up from her magazine and turned it aside,

"What's wrong sweetheart?" She asked as he cuddled up next to her, kissing her swollen abdomen.

"Even though she is currently a huge whale, Abby managed to bowl a 250. So now we have to name our daughter Abigail Thumbelina."

Angela chuckled, "What would have happened if you won?"

"They would name their son Jack Angelo." Hodgins sighed, "I have to stop going to these bowling matches. Why don't you stop me?"

"It amuses me." Angela explained, with a grin. He smiled back at her, putting his hand over where their daughter was.

"At least I beat Sister Rosita," Hodgins added to Angela, comforted by that thought.

"Yes. You have the power to beat a nun but not a pregnant woman in bowling. Congratulations." Angela teased, her eyes twinkling.

XOXOXOXOXOXOXOX

"Bones, that's enough pictures." Booth told his wife, "I think we're embarrassing the kids now."

"No, Parker only gets one prom and what if these first few come out badly?" Temperance Booth argued.

"My parents took a lot too." Emily Fornell told them, beaming. She was pretty, with long white-blond hair up in a pretty hairstyle, courtesy of Angela. She had a dark purple dress on, and a matching corsage, "I'm sure you can get copies from them."

Temperance had taken eighty pictures of her handsome stepson putting the corsage on his girlfriend of two years. They were both going off to college soon and Bones wasn't quite sure what she'd do without Parker around. She depended on him for so much now, and she was almost too protective of the young boy in her custody, even now when he was growing into a man with Seeley's shoulders and his mother's natural beauty.

The other kids were older now and they could be more trusted by themselves, she supposed. Christine Rebecca was eight now and Zachary Jared was six. They were great kids with big imaginations and curious minds. On the other hand, they tended to get in trouble fairly easy, so she mentally decided to start looking for nannies. Her children were attracted to trouble like Hodgins to dirt, a trait she blamed on her beloved husband who was beaming at his firstborn son.

"You look handsome, son." Booth fixed Parker's tie and quietly slipped him forty bucks, "Have fun and don't get in any trouble. And your curfew is two AM, remember?"

He winked at Emily, giving her a warm hug, and she laughed, embracing him warmly. Emily had been a part of the family since Parker was a little boy and it seemed natural to see them move into something more. Angela claimed it'd been more painful to watch the tension around her and Parker than when Bones and Booth had been skirting around their same passions. However, Angela could be melodramatic.

"Yeah Dad," Parker grinned, hugging his father. Parker's lanky blond hair was neatly combed and he was about the same height as his father now. He'd lost the baby cherub cheeks, but Booth was comforted to see that at least he still had his mother's hair, as well as her round face and her compassion.

It had taken years for Parker to really move on, and in some ways, he never had. However, he didn't have nightmares anymore. And after Chrissy was born, it seemed to comfort Parker in a way, like that his family was being cemented into place and that cement would never shake. Though he still had trust issues, he was a well adjusted teenager and going into college next year, with beautiful Emily by his side.

"Have fun, kid." Booth said, patting his son on the back, "And you too, Emily." He hugged them both and she laughed, seeing that Bones was taking a picture of their embrace as well. Distangling herself, she managed to slowly guide Parker away. He quickly picked up the hint and put her arm on his elbow, happy to depart.

"Temp, they're leaving now." Booth warned his little wife and of course, she insisted on taking pictures of them leaving, just as she took pictures of Emily arriving with a put out Parker. Seeley just watched his wife fondly, thinking of how much he loved her.

"If you don't watch out, she might follow us to the prom." Emily joked to Parker, giggling and Parker made a face,

"Don't joke about that. She might think it's an invitation." He smiled all the same and went over to Temperance,

"Hey Temp." He grinned easily, "Thank you." The words were simple, but they meant so much and Brennan knew it. Her eyes filling up again, she embraced Parker and he laughed, hugging her back.

Temperance always worried about her position with Parker, and he wasn't always the easiest kid to mother. But they had a good relationship, especially now.

She leaned back into Booth's welcoming embrace, sighing,

"I can't believe he's old enough to go to his prom."

"I can't believe that Chrissy managed to pick the neighbor's lock yesterday to go and free all these hamsters." Booth added casually, raising an eyebrow.

Temperance nodded seriously, "I extrapolated that the lock-picking came from Ziva and the hamster freeing came from Angela. But they didn't seem to appreciate my reasoning, so I just told them about the dangers of having ten hamsters in a tiny cage. I think they appreciated it."

"I'm sure they did." Booth said with a chuckle, kissing his wife again just as he did every day now.

Their remaining children made cries of "Ewww!" but the happy parents didn't pay them much attention.

XOXOXOXOXOXOXOX

"It's a beautiful day, Eli." Yafa told her husband, leaning into him with a smile as they walked across one of Tel Aviv's many beaches, "But we have to get home soon. I need to start cooking the brisket and Hadassah's coming by later to make the challah. It is Rosh Hashanah, after all."

"We'll get home soon." Eli promised her, "And I'll help you cook."

"You will not. Your hands only ruin my innocent food." Yafa laughs, readjusting her scarf, "Oh, I wish Ziva would come this year, but I do understand that she's busy with her work schedule,"

"She regrets it too." Eli agreed, hugging her at the side, "But she says that they'll come for Sukkot. All eight days too,"

"Good." Yafa smiles, "I know that my grandbabies will love our _sukkah_. And I want Tony to help you build it. You know Ziva worries that you don't get along."

"We get along fine as long as we only talk about sports or our family." Eli explained, "Or in this case, surprising _Bubbe_."

"_Mah_?" Yafa asked, confused and Eli laughed, pointing over to where a family was waving excitedly at them. She could just make out a man in an ostentatious blue Hawaiian T-shirt hugging the side of her beaming daughter as they walked across the sand. Yafa could recognize Ziva's smile from miles away, and it was a dead giveaway especially now as she looked at her husband and their littlest girl, in Tony's arms.

The two older kids screamed for their grandparents, bringing tears of surprise to Yafa as Ziva looked at her mother with love and pride.

_"Bubbe_!_ Zayde_!" They shouted, the two running to hug their grandparents and chatter excitedly about their trip. Little Jenny all but climbed on Eli while the oldest, Tal, settled for simply hugging her. He looked heartbreakingly like her Zivaleh as a little girl, with big brown eyes and long lashes that went on for miles.

Ziva walked over to them, a big grin on her face as she stayed embraced to Tony and their two year old, Ariella Kelly. Yafa gasped to see Ariella and Ziva happily handed the cherubic two year old to her granny, and Yafa stared at Ziva, knowing that they were both thinking about how much blue eyed Ariella looked like Tali. Only the skin tone was different, but she had a big open smile and curly brown hair that frizzed just like Tali's.

Yafa smiled to look at them. They looked like a couple happily in love, and she knew that they were. Especially when Tony turned and kissed her on the head and she laughed at him, kissing him in return on the lips.

"Tony wanted to surprise you with the trip." Ziva explained, smiling at her husband, who smiled back at her.

Yafa glanced at Tony who just laughed and walked closer to his, his eyes twinkling.

"_L'shanah tova_," He told her warmly, his face breaking out into a bigger smile.

She gave him a kiss on the cheek, delighted to have all of her family in her house again. It was a lovely surprise.

XOXOXOXOXOXOX

"I still can't believe this is happening." Ziva told Booth, delighted, "Who would think, after all?"

"I did." Tony added next to his wife, "I _so_ saw this coming."

"You did not." She protested, "How could you see the idea of our daughter and their son falling in love? Because I certainly did not,"

"Neither did I," Temperance added, "After all, Zack and Jenny didn't really like each other for most of their lives. Remember that awful playdate when they were eight?"

Ziva chuckled, "Oh yes. Jenny tied up Zack and tried to roll him around in the mud puddle."

"Only after he tried to force feed her a worm." Brennan added thoughtfully, "And there was the first day of middle school."

"Right. Zack brought an egg to school and yolked it all over Jenny." Tony said, chuckling despite himself, as it'd been pretty funny until his little girl burst into tears and ranted about how much she hated Zachary Booth. Ziva shot him a look for being unhelpful, just as she did now.

"And she got back at him by pantsing him at that music recital." Booth added, chuckling

"Yes, they've certainly never gotten along." Temperance said, nodding thoughtfully, "Honestly, I would've thought that Zack would end up marrying Jackie McGee. They're best friends after all."

"McGee's twins are cute." Ziva began, "But my baby girl is cuter."

Tony laughed and kissed her for that.

XOXOXOXOXOXOXOX

"Oh God, are they really talking about us?" Jenny asked, making a face. Zack laughed and look at her, grinning. His green eyes looked into her blue ones and they ended up making out again. Every time they were together, the pair always had an urge to be together. As kids, they fought it harder than anything.

Jenny had grown into a beautiful young woman, practically the apple of her mother's eye. Her brown hair was lighter however, and she had a reputation as a sore loser, both traits identified with her father, as well as her uncommonly good luck with gambling (this evidence being taken from her recent haul in Vegas at the bachelorette party).

Meanwhile, Zack was on the short side, only a half inch taller than Jenny, and his spikes made him taller still. He had dark brown hair, but she could see that it shone red in the right light. It was like their own little secret, the color of his hair. Not even his mother noticed that, and he was a mama's boy. He grew up basically harassing Jenny and she never gave him an inch, a ball of fire herself.

He knew that was where their attraction lay, mostly. The fire of the passion. It'd gotten them together during a clandestine summer before senior year, and reignited when they came home for Christmas.

But now they were mature, soon to be graduated, college students. Minus the mature part, actually. Because mature kids would be sitting with their parents instead of hiding from them.

"Hey, did we miss the party?" Katie asked, coming up with Jackie. The two had their mother's natural brown hair and big blue eyes. Incredibly close, the McGee twins tended to creep out some people with how attuned they were to each other.

It didn't bother their family friends though, and certainly not Zack or Jenny. Or Katie's boyfriend.

"Katie, wait up!" Al jogged over to her, grinning. "Thought I lost ahold of my girl."

It was amazing how Albert Timothy Hodgins could tell the difference between the identical twins (who'd been known to get up to some serious mischief), but nobody questioned it by this point.

"Congratulations on the engagement," He added with a grin, "My parents are coming by later with the sisters. This party should be fairly packed."

"Right now it's just our parents discussing how amazing it is that we ended up together." Zack said wryly, holding Jenny casually at her waist. She leaned into him, giggling, "Zack's mom just said that she thought Zack would end up with Jackie."

"Ew no." Jackie scrunched her face, "Our parents used to give us _baths_ together after all."

"We _all_ had baths together, Jackie." Jenny pointed out, chuckling

She rolled her eyes, "Exactly. That's why I'm not dating any of you…" She trailed off, seeing someone with wavy black hair and a killer smile walk up.

"Hey, did I miss it?" Tal walked up with his gift, beaming brilliantly, "Or is this the hiding from the parents phase?"

"Correct on the second, big brother." Jenny hugged Tal, happy to see him. He had graduated that year and was harder to find then Waldo sometimes.

She could see Jackie pretending not to notice him but everyone knew that Jacklyn Angela McGee was crazy for Tal Anthony DiNozzo. However, he never noticed that, being the biggest blockhead around.

That and the fact that they were three years apart.

"Where's Parker and Emily?" Tal asked, glancing around, "Or have they had the baby already?"

"No dorkus. They just can't come. The baby is too far along, but I plan to make my brand new niece the flower girl." Jenny explained, admiring her ring again, "And I have no idea, as usual, where Ariella is,"

"She's at a football game with Robby." Al filled in for her, "They're coming late, along with my other siblings, who are all also in high school."

"My sister is at a football game with your brother instead of my engagement party?" Jenny asked, slightly miffed

"Robby's the quarterback, and it's winding down by now." Zack said casually, glancing at his watch, "And it _is_ Ariella's senior year," He added reasonably, "They'll be here soon and we'll all go face the music." He gestured to inside the room.

"Alright." Jenny smiles, "Thank God I can drink."

Zack frowns, looking around for his older sister, "Anyone know where Chrissy is?"

Everyone glances at Tal, Chrissy's ex-boyfriend. They haven't dated in nearly four years, but everyone still expects to see them together. Even when they bring home different dates for various family functions.

Inside, the two sets of parents laugh.

"Honestly, after Tal and Chrissy broke up, I didn't think we'd ever end up related to each other." Tony informs Booth and the words float out to the kids.

Tal winces, but he smiles easily, and accepts the sympathetic looks from everyone else.

"Chrissy's picking them up." Al explains lightly, "Or so Robby told me. She's probably watching the rest of the game with Ariella."

Tal groaned, rubbing his face, "This evening is going to be hard, isn't it?"

He slides down to sit next to Jenny who just pats him on the back.

"Well there's one good thing about this weird union." Tal sighs, shaking his head, "It'll get everyone else over the idea of me and Chrissy. Because now, it's like…incest or something." He made a face.

"Now, now, it's just a matter of finding the right words." Jenny teased, eyes twinkling, "And besides, I love Chrissy but you two were too perfect for each other. You needed someone funner,"

"Funner is not a word." Zack corrected her, which, as usual, annoyed Jenny. This time however, he kissed her on the cheek and that made her less annoyed. Because when he kissed her, it made her feel all tingly and good on the inside. Even now, after three years.

She could finally understand why her parents were always obsessed with kissing each other. Even if they were…old people.

"Ah, I'm just going to take a break from it all." Tal muttered. He handed out a beer to everyone, (as that was what had been in his bag) and grinned toward his sister,

"Cheers to my sister. God knows how she's going to survive this marriage with Zack Booth."

"That's exactly what I said to your father on my wedding day." Ziva called out, walking over to them, "And what are you doing, Tal Anthony? You know most of these kids are underage." She put her hands on her hips and snatched Al Hodgin's beer away from him. He protested, though Katie just laughed. Al, after all, would be twenty-one next week and she had just celebrated her twenty-first birthday two weeks ago.

Everyone groaned, but Ziva just laughed and the other parents came out with her. More people were trickling in around the front yard of the house, and Jenny suddenly felt very aware of the fact that people were smiling at her and Zack.

"Cheers to Jenny and Zack. If they are _half_ as blessed as I've been with my husband, they will lead a very happy life." Ziva smiled warmly at the pair and raised Al's beer, taking a sip before handing it to Tony.

Tony, after a manly swig, clapped his hand on Zack's shoulder and smiled, "Later, you and I are going to have a talk about my daughter, okay buddy?"

Zack nodded, suddenly very uncomfortable. He hoped that he'd make it out of that circumstance alive and still wanting to marry Jenny Yafa DiNozzo.

Seeley walked over to him and Tony, grinning: "Congratulations son. We all thought it'd be Tal and Chrissy, but you and Jenny have a certain charm too."

"Yeah?" Zack asked, smiling

Booth nodded, "Reminds me of the way your mother and I were in the beginning. And we're still together, so that's good luck for you, buddy." He sneaks a look at Temperance as she greets a few family friends, laughing about her good fortune.

"Really?"

"Oh yeah." Tony chuckled, "If she marries you," He glances over at radiant Ziva, who is fussing over Jenny's hairstyle, "It's for life."

**XOXO-Fin-XOXOX**

**Remember to review and tell me how sad you are that this is over and how happy you are that everyone's together. And how weird it is that I put in so much about their life after happily ever after. But I wanted it to be twenty pages and I gave you 21. If I took out everything after Parker is recovered, it would only be ten pages and I didn't want to cheat you guys out.**

**Oh and if it's not obvious: Yafa and Eli are Ziva's parents. She ends up married to Tony and they have three kids: Tal Anthony, Jenny Yafa, and Ariella Kelly. Booth and Bones move in together and later get married. Parker goes steady with Fornell's daughter, the adorable Emily, and helps his parents out with their two kids: Christine Rebecca and Zachary Jared. Abby and McGee (obviously) end up together and have twin girls: Caitlin and Jaclyn McGee. Angela and Hodgins also end up together and have two boys (that I know of): Albert Timothy Hodgins and Robby Hodgins. I like to think that Angela has more kids, however (I just didn't write them in). Al is the oldest and Robby the youngest.**

**So in the lives of these kids (age not mattering for now, b/c it's really just an ending, that's all): Tal and Chrissy dated for a year or so before they broke it off because their relationship was too intense for either of them. They're happier now in their own different lives. Jackie McGee has the biggest crush on Tal, however, so maybe she gets a happy ending with him (I don't know). Her twin, Katie, meanwhile, has been in a relationship with Al since forever (high school sweethearts, all that stuff). And Ariella and Robby are both the babies of their families (DiNozzo and Hodgins, respectively) and have been best friends forever. Neither would think of stepping past that line, much to Angela and Ziva's slight disappointment. **

**However, Jenny and Zack, who have never gotten along suddenly find themselves falling in love to the point of marrying and forever merging their families in a beautiful crossover universe of NCIS/Bones!**

**And yes, this is truly and actually the end. Review if you love it, hate it, or want to see more.**

**Momentary rant about the tv shows-**

**Bones: HOW could they not have Booth and Brennan kiss after that whole discussion about faith??? I was like, OMG kiss him! the whole time and they didn't! Nooo...Instead, they share a smile over tea. *sighs* Oh and I am so annoyed that they re-introduced Jared with that Indian girl because it means that I went totally non-canon now. And I hate going non-canon. Oh and Booth needs to be shirtless more.**

**NCIS: Jetlag made me disgustingly happy. Keep it up guys, but I want more Tiva. Even if it is USTiva. That's better than No Tive. But wth is going on with Gibbs and M Allison Hart??? She is so not good for him. And they're getting together instead of TIVA??? WHY?**

**And if you really like my stuff, I've got Blank up right now. It's only NCIS however, featuring Tony and Ziva. I have no plans to do anything with Bones at the present moment.**

**And yes, I will miss you all too on this Xover Thread.**


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